Blown vein in blood draw

[Communitynurse365]

So I actually have quite a bit of experience with blood draws but today was a first for me. I blew someone's vein while drawing blood! This happened after I already had vacutainer full of blood.

i pulled out needle when I saw lump and applied pressure for a while. I sent away blood to lab. I am wondering whether this would affect results at all?

im wondering if there are any tricks to avoid this? I'm thinking I left tourniquet on too long on his little veins.

thanks!

[Farawyn]

It happens to everyone. No worries. It sounds as if you handled it well.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Happened to me for the first time recently after hundreds of blood draws. Shouldn't effect the results since you had already collected the sample.

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

It happens. I blew someone's vein the other day, but at least I got the blood-she was a very difficult draw!

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

Sometimes it might cause hemolysis if any of the blood went into the vacutainer after the "blow." This will cause a falsely elevated K+. But the lab is good at detecting that and will order a recollect.