Needle Bore Size and The Degree of Hemolysis During Blood Specimen Acquisition

Abstract

This study examined the degree of detectable hemolysis in- blood specimens as-pirated with needles'p~ :small and 1.arge bore size. A quasiexperimental design was used to test the resea;ch hypothesis that blood . specimens. aspira~ed_~tth a 22~gauge_needle will have a higher degree of -detectable-hemolysis than blood specimens asp:irated .with a 20-gauge needle. Data collectionconsisted of aspirating from each subject

(n=31) one blood-·speci~en--wi-th a 22-gauge-needle and-one-:.blood specimen·: _ _, . ,.,. : . . . . ' . . with a 20~gauge ·needle~- .. Th~- -plasma -hemoglobin df each specimen was . . . . . . '• . mea~ured and data were 'analyzed using the independent t~test~ The - results- indicated- that the mean difference in the plasma hemogl_obin· . ' . . . . . - ·between the two blood specimens w·as not stattstically · si'gnif1cant', -t-hus ·· .. the research hypothesis was not supported .. Thefindi~gs sug\Jested that . . '·· heme lysis was not influenced by the bore si z~ of the needle us.ed during blood specimen acq-uisition.