Venipuncture Nerve Injuries in the Upper Extremity From More Than 1 Million Procedures

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the nerve injury rate for 1 million venipunctures and the efficacy of attempts to avoid severe nerve injury. METHODS: We collected data for outpatients from whom a venipuncture blood sample was obtained in our hospital from 2005 to 2014. Every venipuncture procedure for outpatients was performed by a trained nurse or clinical technologist at the center for blood sampling in our hospital. In addition, a series of lectures by a specialist is held in our hospital at various times. All complaints related to venipuncture blood sampling were reported to our division of hospital safety management and were followed up using the guidelines for injuries related to the venipuncture. RESULTS: The number of venipuncture-related complications was 293 (0.027%, 1/3700) of 1,082,053 during the 10 years. A total of 40 of the 1,082,053 venipunctures were referred to the department of orthopedic surgery, and 16 (0.0015%, 1/67,000) were diagnosed with obvious nerve injuries. The average duration of the treatment was 46.4 days (range, 1-126 days); 69% of the patients recovered within 5 weeks, and all patients recovered within 18 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is impossible to completely prevent venipuncture-related complications, appropriate venipuncture skills and risk management decrease the incidence of chronic or permanent nerve injury risk after venipuncture.