Jugular Venipuncture

[Ayemee]

Hello! Currently I am being trained on drawing blood, and I feel comfortable with the Cephalic and saphenous veins. I am still nervous with jugular blood draws, however. I was told that to hit the carotid, you would have to really insert the needle far. Is this true? I’m so afraid of accidentally hitting the carotid, do you guys have any tips? People say to think about the anatomy but that make much sense to me since the jugular and carotid are so close together, besides the fact that the carotid is further back.

Thanks!

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[Ayemee]

Anybody?

 

[KCgophervet]

I mean you kind of already said it. The carotid is further back, so when inserting your needle and drawing back, once you hit blood you should be in the jugular. That and it's probably not that big of a deal even if you do hit the carotid. It's a needle poke, not a scalpel blade. The real key is making sure you're holding off for an appropriate amount of time afterwards, so many people just hold it for 10 seconds and call it good and then the poor dog has a giant bruise on its neck.

 

[JaynaAli]

This isn’t really the kind of thing that can be taught on an Internet forum, in my opinion. Tell whoever is training you that you’re uncomfortable and ask them to help.