For particularly vulnerable patient populations it may be necessary to consider reducing the number of samples collected from each participant or use alternative sampling methods (e.g., a heel stick on a newborn as opposed to placing an indwelling line).
Although a heel stick may be more tolerable for parents and ethics committees, it may be more painful for the infant than venipuncture (Ogawa et al. 2005).
The 30 second video clips depicted term and preterm neonates of Caucasian descent experiencing a heel stick and squeezing for blood collection.
They rated the pain (0 10 scale and 0 6 Faces Pain Scale), distress (0 10), effectiveness of cuddling to relieve pain (0 10) and time to calm without intervention (seconds) for nine video clips of neonates receiving a heel stick.
HLA typing Cord blood was obtained whenever possible, but if unobtainable, a heel stick blood sample was collected on filter paper and immediately sent to the Turku (Europe and Australia) or Pittsburgh North Americaa) laboratories for HLA genotyping.
Use a heel cup to better distribute the weight on your heel.
Blood is collected by the medical staff using the heel stick method at times determined by the clinical protocols used in our NICU.
Also excluded from this study would be children who received a lead screen using a finger or heel stick.
