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Capillary PunctureAka: Heel Stick

Indications: Pediatric lab evaluation
1. Hemoglobin
2. Hematocrit
Efficacy
1. Less sensitive than venipuncture
2. Hemoglobin and Hematocrit levels falsely elevated
Sites
1. Infants: medial or lateral plantar heal
2. Older children: medial or lateral pulp of finger
Technique
1. Warm area with a moist towel increases blood flow
2. Lancet size
  1. Age <6 months: 2.5 mm length
  2. Age >6 months: 5.0 mm length

Heel stick (C0419343)
Concepts	Diagnostic Procedure (T060)
English	Heel stick, Heel-prick sampling
Spanish	pinchazo en el talon
Parent Concepts	Capillary specimen collection (procedure) (C0419342)
Sources	SCTSPA, SNOMEDCT Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.

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Capillary PunctureAka: Heel Stick

Heel stick (C0419343)

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