heel stick
Medical term Routine Blood Collections
Capillary puncture on the medial or lateral plantar surface of an infant's heel, used from birth to about 6 months; the back of the heel is avoided.
Sources
Related terms
- capillaryThe smallest blood vessel, where oxygen, nutrients and wastes pass between blood and tissue. A skin puncture…
- plantar surfaceThe sole of the foot. Infant heel punctures are made on its medial or lateral sides.
- fibrinogenA clotting protein in plasma that is converted into fibrin; plasma contains it, serum does not.
- formed elementsThe solid part of blood: red cells, white cells and platelets (cell fragments), suspended in the liquid…
- gaugeThe number for a needle's bore: the higher the gauge, the thinner the needle. A 21-gauge needle is typical…
- glycolytic inhibitorAdditive, most often sodium fluoride in gray-top tubes, that keeps cells from consuming glucose after…
- hematomaSwelling from blood leaking into tissue at the puncture, for example when the needle goes through the vein…
- hemoconcentrationRise in cell and protein concentration when plasma water leaves the vein, as with a tourniquet left on too…
- hemoglobinIron-based protein packed inside red cells; it picks up oxygen in the lungs, releases it to tissues and…
- hemolysisRupture of red cells that releases hemoglobin and potassium into serum or plasma, tinting it pink to red and…