Question
arm after routine bloo
My mother is an 81 year old active, healthy woman. On Friday, 8/13/10, mom had routine blood work. When the tech took out the needle, a lump the size of a grapefruit swelled on the area that had the needle injected. We remained in the doctor's office for two hours until the lump went down some-what. The doctor's office nurses said this was typical...but, today, 8/14, look at the condition of my mom's arm! This can't be right, can it?
AnswerObviously it isn't "right." I have worked at a plasma donation center for 20+ years and have seen my share of these.
The person drew the blood and the vein leaked afterwards. Being on aspirin or coumadin makes this more likely. The good news is that this looks horrible but will slowly go away over a few weeks with no long term problems. The arm will turn funny bruise colors... purple green and yellow. The blood will settle down towards the hand and fingers and the wrist/hand may swell a little. But the blood will be reabsorbed.
Next blood draw, have them put "Coban" on, and leave on for 2 hours, a stretchy dressing that keeps pressure on the vein or simply keep manual pressure with the other hand on that area for 10 minutes.
This is an ugly complication but not serious.
