Bilal Ahmad Sethi¹,  Rizwan Anwar², Surriya Yasmin³ and Muhammad Usman Anjum⁴

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the utility and efficacy of LED light in venipuncture in pediatric patients, Study Design: Experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Shahina Jamil Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from January to December 2016,

Materials and Methods: All pediatric patients between the ages of one to six months, requiring venous access and hemodynamically stable were included in the study. All those patients who were more than six months of age, or hemodynamically unstable or critically ill were excluded from the study. There were 140 study participants who were divided randomly into two groups. First group received venipuncture using light emitting diode (LED) device and the second group received venipuncture using conventional method and without LED. Primary endpoints were the number of attempts and time taken till successful venipuncture.

Results: There were 140 patients in our study with 70 patients in each group. There was a male preponderance in both groups. The venipuncture success rate was higher in LED group where 57.1% were successfully performed on first attempt as compared to conventional group where the success rate at first attempt was 21.4%. Similarly, the failure rate was quite low, (5.7%), in LED group as compared to conventional group where the failure rate was 27.1%. Most of the venipunctures, (54.3%), were performed in less than two minutes in LED group while only 8.6% took more than three minutes. Conversely, 44.3% of cannulation took more than three minutes while only 20% could be performed in less than two minutes in conventional group.

Conclusion: LED light provides an inexpensive yet very convenient and efficacious adjunct to conventional method of venipuncture in pediatric patients. This results in improved success rates and offers a cheap alternative to more expensive options available like near-infrared spectroscopy, especially in developing countries. Key Words: Light-emitting diode (LED), venipuncture, venous access

Citation of article: Sethi BA, Anwar R, Yasmin S, Anjum MU. Usefulness of Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

Light in Transilluminating Superficial Venous System for Peripheral Venous Access in Paediatric Patients.