Posted in venepuncture

Drawing blood from a cannula is a routine practice in some clinical environments. But is this best practice or will the blood become too haemolysed to provide accurate results? Drawing blood from a peripheral intravenous catheter/cannula (PIVC) is a routine practice in clinical environments such as the emergency department, rationalised as one less invasive test that a patient is subjected to. A PIVC should never be inserted just to draw blood or 'just in case' it's needed late...