BALIUAG UNIVERSITY

HEMATOLOGY 1
ST
SY: 1 TRIMESTER 2021– 2022
Name: Dela Cruz, Albert Bryan R. Year Level: BSMT - 1
Date: February 9, 2022 Exercise #: 6

Manual Capillary Puncture

Title

Objective:
To achieve this unit, a learner must:
1. Demonstrate the proper use of RBC pipette.
2. Perform the proper charging of blood into the hemacytometer.
3. Focus the proper counting squares for RBC.
4. Perform RBC counting properly and accurately.
5. Calculate the RBC count accurately.

Pre- Analytical Phase: (Materials)

 BALIUAG UNIVERSITY
HEMATOLOGY 1
ST
SY: 1 TRIMESTER 2021– 2022

Analytical Phase: (Procedure)

 BALIUAG UNIVERSITY
HEMATOLOGY 1
ST
SY: 1 TRIMESTER 2021– 2022

Post-Analytical Phase:
 Name of the Patient: Albert Bryan R. Dela Cruz
 Age and Gender: 18, Male
 Date and Time of the Collection: 10:12 AM, February 9, 2022

Waste management and other safety precautions

Questions:
1. What is the order of collection when you use capillary puncture as the method of collecting
blood?
 BALIUAG UNIVERSITY
HEMATOLOGY 1
ST
SY: 1 TRIMESTER 2021– 2022

 If you will use capillary puncture as your blood collection method, you must remember
the order of draw for your specimen collection:
a. Blood gas tubes
b. Slides or smears
c. EDTA tubes
d. Other additive minicontainers (eg. Heparin)
e. Serum containers or minicontainers

2. Why do we prefer skin puncture for the infants?

 The following are the some of the reasons why skin puncture is advised for infants:
 Locating superficial veins that are large enough to accept even a small-gauge
needle is difficult
 Use of deep veins can be dangerous and may cause complications
 Drawing excessive amounts of blood from infants can rapidly cause anemia
Certain tests require capillary blood such as newborn screening tests and
capillary blood gases

3. What are the proper collection sites for infants and adults?
 For infants, it is advised to collect blood samples from the plantar heel surface. On the
other hand, earlobes, palmar surface of the second, third, or fourth fingers, and lateral
side of the fingers are used for blood collection in adults.

4. What is the composition/mixture of the blood taken from a capillary puncture?

 Skin-punctured blood is a mixture of blood coming from capillaries, arterioles, and
venules. Due to its composition, it is considered as a mixture of arterial and venous
blood. The composition of this blood more closely resembles arterial rather than venous
blood due to arterial pressure.

5. Why excessive massaging or squeezing of the finger should be avoided?

 Excessive squeezing of the finger, also known as milking, must be avoided in skin
puncture. Milking is one of the reasons of why hemolysis is common in skin puncture.
Hemolysis refers to the disruption of RBCs, and its presence interferes with the tests
routinely affected by hemolysis and newborn bilirubin determination.

6. What is the ideal depth of skin puncture?

 To prevent contact with bone, the depth of the puncture is critical. The ideal depth for
skin puncture recommended are the following:
i. For adults, the depth should not go beyond 2.4 mm.
ii. For a child over 6 months and below 8 years, 1.5 mm;
iii. For a child over 8 years, 2.4 mm.
iv. In heel-pricks, the depth should not go beyond 2.4 mm.