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Updated: May 17, 2026
Femoral Arterial and Venous Catheterization for Blood Sampling, Drug Administration and Conscious Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Measurements
Published on: January 24, 2012
Difficult venepuncture--it was all in the head!
K G Badami1, I Chalmers, S Soule
1New Zealand Blood Service, Christchurch, New Zealand. krishna.badami@nzblood.co.nz
Aim:
To emphasise the importance of careful observations and demonstrate that significant conditions may, on occasion, be detected during blood donation.
Background:
Venepunctures, the bread and butter of blood donor services, can be difficult procedures. We describe an unusual presentation of a relatively rare disease detected during routine blood donations because of difficult venepunctures.
Methods:
Case report.
Results:
A growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma was diagnosed, and successfully treated, following the initial observation of hard-to-puncture skin during blood donations.
Conclusions:
Seemingly trivial abnormalities may prove clinically important. One presentation of acromegaly is hard-to-puncture skin.
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