Blood draws on infants

myfavouritescar · Jun 3, 2011

Depends on what you're testing for. We follow a hospital policy that dictates how many mL's are required for each test.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jun 3, 2011

Are you looking for the maximum safe volume? Like myfavouritescar suggests, in most infant situations there isn't a set amount that we draw.

Rather than "drawing a rainbow" as a standard practice, with infants we usually figure out exactly what the orders are going to be and then draw the minimum amount needed to accomplish that testing.

Do you use Microtainer tubes or something similar to them? With this type of system, 0.5 mL is usually plenty for a green top (chemistry) or a purple top (hematology). Accurate blood cultures seem to require at least 1 mL, even from the tiniest patients.

If you're using a Microtainer-type collection system and only collecting the blood required for ordered tests, needing to draw potentially unsafe volumes of blood shouldn't be a common problem.

pedspro · Dec 6, 2011

1.8kg..............1ml

2.3kg..............1ml

2.7kg..............2ml

3.2kg..............3ml

3.6kg..............4ml

data from Phlebotomy Handbook , Data calculated by Dr. leland Baskin

other charts have max draw per day and per 30 day period:redbeathe

other charts are available based on Hgb.

you can do a quick search on line: max volume blood draw.....

and yes, you could draw too much blood. Hospital aquired anemia is a real concern.

pedspro · Dec 6, 2011

www.seattlechildrens.org/pdf/blood-volume-chart.pdf

make sure you get he entire link.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 7, 2011

Hospital aquired anemia is a real concern.

But it would be very, very unlikely in the scenario that the OP asks about.

wooh, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

What you'd draw in an ER isn't going to hit the limit. When we worry about the max daily draw, it's when we're drawing the giant multitude of weird genetics labs that require a bunch of tubes and can't use microtainers.