Carlo Valerio Bellieni, Duccio M Cordelli, Morena Raffaelli, Beatrice Ricci, Guido Morgese, and Giuseppe Buonocore

Analgesic effect of TV watching during venipuncture
Arch Dis Child 2006; 0: adc.2006.097246v1 [Abstract]

wbrous{at}suddenlink.net William Broussard

I have 22 years experience in a pediatric general care unit and can say with certainty that the most important aspect of venipuncture is a skilled technician. EMLA is Ok and distractive techniques can help, but when it comes down to it.. venipuncture is always scary for kids. Rarely do any distractive attempts or local anesthetics do much to diminish the crying and struggling (fear). Whats most important is for the phlebotomist to perform accurately and quickly. No amount of distraction or anesthesia (which can be prohibitively time-consuming) will make a repeat attempt scenario any better. Train the nurses and phlebotomists intensively on vein selection and proper tourniquet application, with appropriate "bedside technique", and you'll have much better "patient satisfaction."