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Problem in finding veins

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ANI:
Dear All
My 6 .5 yrs old child is having one problem. Thne nurses are not able to find his veins for transfusion. At times they prick him 6-7 times and he is under severe pain. We, as parents, feel very down psychologically and feel helpless. Nurses were saying  that most of the Ani's  veins has developed Thrombos and the needle does  not go inside and there fore they have to prick him in multiple places.
is it a common problem ? Is there any medcicine to remove these gland type thrombos-what they say. How to at least make the need;le pricking proper?
Also in last transfusion we have tried scalvel-set( Butter fly type needle) . Earlier they were usin Intra c-cat( Plastic pipe Type arrangement? Also since ;ast4-5 months . they give Haparin after the transfusion. They said that it will not allow Blood to cloat. is it right ?
What othe child do ? Can some one guide us please
Rgds
Anis father

Sharmin:
Dear Ani's father,

It is very common for nurses to have difficulty finding children's veins.  It has happened to our son many times.  We find that having him drink plenty of fluids the day before and morning of the transfusion helps.  Also, putting an extra layer of clothing on so that he is warm before the transfusion helps as well. 

I don't know why they are using heparin - I have never heard of that before...Perhaps someone else may know..

Sharmin

Pratik:
Hi Ani,

We had similar discussion a while ago, where member posted their valuable tips which was really found to be helpful. I advise you to see both of the below topics:

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,4574.0.html
http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,4651.0.html

-P.

Andy Battaglia:
One more thing that can help is taking low dose vitamin C daily, as this will improve the quality and strength of the blood vessels. Thals should not take high doses of vitamin C, but for a child of this age, 100 mg daily is suggested.

nwalsh528:
We hydrate our 5 year old with more liquids starting 72 hours prior to transfusion day.
When we arrive at the hospital, they apply hot packs to his arms.

Some people have luck with EMLA (numbing cream) but with our son they cause his skin to dehydrate and his blood vessels to retract.

If it's a hard line start, an IV nurse sometimes will inject Lidocaine. This will sting for a moment but then numbs the area and the nurse can DIG w/o him having pain.

Sometimes a different nurse has better luck than the first one who has not been successful on that day.
Some places have "vein finders" (some sort of machines - we have never used one, but our ER does have one. I know Boston Hospital Children's has one).
Nicole

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