WHO guidelines on drawing blood: best practices in phlebotomy

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Safe Injection Global Network ; World Health Organization ; National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (U.S.). Global AIDS Program
• Description:
  Phlebotomy – the drawing of blood – has been practised for centuries and is still one of the most common invasive procedures in health care. Each step in the process of phlebotomy affects the quality of the specimen and is thus important for preventing laboratory error, patient injury and even death. For example, the touch of a finger to verify the location of a vein before insertion of the needle increases the chance that a specimen will be contaminated. This can cause false blood culture results, prolong hospitalization, delay diagnosis and cause unnecessary use of antibiotics. Jostling and jarring of test tubes in transit can lyse or break open red blood cells, causing false laboratory results. Clerical errors in completing forms and identifying patients are common, costly and preventable. Other adverse effects for patients are common; they include bruising at the site of puncture, fainting, nerve damage and haematomas. These guidelines outline the simple but important steps that can make phlebotomy safer for patients.
  
  Phlebotomy uses large, hollow needles to remove blood specimens for lab testing or blood donation. Each step in the process carries risks - both for patients and health workers. Patients may be bruised. Health workers may receive needle-stick injuries. Both can become infected with bloodborne organisms such as hepatitis B, HIV, syphilis or malaria. Moreover, each step affects the quality of the specimen and the diagnosis. A contaminated specimen will produce a misdiagnosis. Clerical errors can prove fatal. The new WHO guidelines provide recommended steps for safe phlebotomy and reiterate accepted principles for drawing, collecting blood and transporting blood to laboratories/blood banks.
  
  Development of this publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-CI09-903 from: the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United States of America (USA); the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Global AIDS Program (GAP).
  
  
• Content Notes:
  Publication date approximated from document properties.
• Subjects:
  Bloodletting / Standards Needlestick Injuries / Prevention & Control Phlebotomy / Standards
• ISBN:
  978 92 4 159922 1
• Publisher:
  World Health Organization (WHO)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Guideline
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP)
• Division:
  GAP - Global AIDS Program
• Topic:
  Diseases & Conditions
• Location:
  Global
• Pages in Document:
  125 pdf pages
• Collection(s):
  Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6498ebe58bedae0c09b379e410782645fdbedb0e52bd3def60fa768e4509a7bdaa4de701d900554ced5aa4ab200df2eb59a91e03bb37f65bb8bf0b3b2e6d9e6d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/41566/cdc_41566_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.64 MB ]