The larger the gauge of the needle the smaller diameter???

[CrystalClear75]

I'm reviewing, could someone please explain what they mean by the larger the gauge the smaller the diameter? Thanks. ?

[2ndyearstudent, CNA]

CrystalClear75 said:

I'm reviewing, could someone please explain what they mean by the larger the gauge the smaller the diameter? Thanks:)

I made sure to learn this concept real well in first year - relating the gauges to the type of injections. Some of my classmates sort of pooh poohed this.

Well, a year and half later, we had a test question that asked, "What needle would you use to give an IM injection to a newborn?" The two gauges in the answers were 18 and 25.

People who pooh poohed learning the gauges chose 18, "'Cause it seems smaller."

When doing stuff in Lab, spend some time on it and learn it.

[purplestar156]

What is a gage??? Is it the length of the needle or how wide the bevel is ? So far I know that the bigger the gage the thinner it gets and I think the smaller the bevel gets =/ Someone help me!

[RLtinker, LPN]

The gauge is a reference to the diameter of the needle. Higher the gauge the smaller the needles diameter. The length is given as a different measurement. For an example for an IM you might use a 23 g 1 1/2" needle.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Needles - The gauge number indicates the bore size: the larger the gauge number, the smaller the needle bore.

The diameter of the needle is indicated by the needle gauge. Various needle lengths are available for any given gauge. There are a number of systems for gauging needles, including the Stubs Needle Gauge, and the French Catheter Scale....which are different. An increasing French size corresponds to a larger diameter catheter. This is contrary to needle-gauge size, where an increasing gauge corresponds to a smaller diameter catheter.

Needles in common medical use range from 7 gauge (the largest) to 33 (the smallest) on the Stubs scale. 21-gauge needles are most commonly used for drawing blood for testing purposes, and 16- or 17-gauge needles are most commonly used for blood donation, as they are wide enough to allow red blood cells to pass through the needle without rupturing (this also allows more blood to be collected in a shorter time). Higher-gauge needles (with smaller diameter) will rupture the red blood cells, and if this occurs, the blood is useless for the patient receiving it.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Also in sutures: 000 suture is finer than 00 suture.

I don't know for sure, but I think this probably goes back to the industrial revolution when there was a lot of competition between the scientists of different nations to be the ones to derive the measurement scale for given disciplines, or even before, when there was the competition to define the temp where water froze, for example.

"French" might actually be "French."

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

It is french....and Stubbs was the name of the guy....who knew!

[HM-8404, BSN, RN]

Needle gauge is determined by the diameter of the wire it is made with. This measurement comes from machinists. I am not exactly sure what unit of measurement machinists use but the best way to remember which is smaller vs. larger is if they used inches how many would lay side by side to equal one inch. If it takes 18 of one and 22 of another to equal one inch then 18ga would be bigger than 22ga.