Blood volume and pain perception during finger prick capillary blood sampling: are all safety lancets equal?

ABSTRACT

Objectives

This study aimed to assess various types of safety lancets in terms of blood volume and pain perception during capillary blood sampling, a routine finger-puncture procedure for obtaining a small amount of human blood for running various screening and diagnostic tests.

Methods

Data were collected from 100 adult healthy volunteers following finger-puncture procedure. Four different types of safety lancets were tested (Acti-Lance, Prolance, Medlance Plus, and MediSafe Solo). Each type has its own versions, giving 16 different safety lancets in total.

Results

A significant difference in the mean capillary blood volume was found between blade and needle equipped safety lancets. MediSafe Solo type lancet had no blade version, and hence its use was associated with the lowest mean collected capillary blood volume (42.4 μL). Acti-Lance and Medlance Plus type lancets had one blade version and the mean collected capillary blood volume was 82.2 and 99.0 μL, respectively. Prolance type lancet had two blade versions, and its use was associated with the highest mean capillary blood volume (118.3 μL). The level of pain intensity was evaluated as low by the majority of patients for all lancets. Medlance Plus was the least painful and Acti-Lance was the most painful type of safety lancet. On a 0-to-10 scale of pain, 75% of punctures were assessed by the participants at a level not exceeding 3 points.

Conclusions

This study suggests that although all investigated safety lancets achieve adequate performance regarding the necessary capillary blood volume to run a diagnostic of test, lancets equipped with blades differ significantly from those equipped with needles in terms of the mean obtained capillary blood volume. Further, although all devices produced relatively low levels of pain, the amount of pain caused by blade versions of safety lancets has been found to be higher than that of needle versions.

ClinicalTrials.gov ID

NCT04001348. (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04001348?term=NCT04001348&draw=2&rank=1)

KEYWORDS:

• Capillary blood sampling
• safety lancet
• pain perception
• single-use medical device
• blade
• needle

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the HTL-STREFA S.A. marketing department team members who contributed to the planning and execution of this study (Gaja Żurawska, Justyna Morozowska).

Declaration of interest

Anna Serafin, Mariusz Malinowski, Aleksandra Prazmowska-Wilanowska are full-time employees of HTL-STREFA S.A.

Reviewers disclosure

The peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The work has been sponsored by HTL-STREFA S.A.