Trick of the Trade: Avoiding a straight-needle needlestick injury

You are finishing up a successful subclavian line procedure. You insert the straight-needle suture needle through the skin to secure the line. When trying to pull it out, you accidentally poke yourself!

This is actually a common scenario for a needlestick injury. Although many central line kits now have curved suture needles, many still have straight needles. How can you avoid a needlestick?

Trick of the Trade:

Use a needle hub as a thimble-like protector

Thanks to Dr. Bret Nelson (Mount Sinai) and SinaiEM.us for the video and great tip! 

Here’s a variation on this trick by Dr. Haney Mallemat (@CriticalCareNow) and Ultrarounds.com.

Reference
Nelson BP. Making straight suture needles a little safer: a technique to keep fingers from harm’s way. J Emerg Med. 2008 Feb; 34(2):195-7. Epub 2007 Oct 1. Pubmed

Author information

Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

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