Venipuncture-related lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve injury: what to know?

Venipuncture is one of the most common procedures performed in daily anesthetic practice. Though usually innocuous, peripheral nerve injuries with serious sequelae have been described following venipuncture. We present a case of venipuncture-related lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve injury, alongside the essential diagnostic and prognostic information for day to day practice.

27-Year old male who underwent venipuncture of the right antecubital fossa with a 20-gauge needle, for routine metabolic assessment. The patient suffered a shooting, electric-type pain traveling on the lateral side of the forearm, from the antecubital fossa proximally, to the right lateral wrist and base of the right thumb. After 24h, the patient still experienced shooting, electric-type pain that was rated as 8/10 at the right distal lateral arm, right lateral wrist and base of the thumb, accompanied by paresthesia. The literature was reviewed and the patient was counseled regarding published outcomes of these type of injuries. At follow-up, the patient stated that the dysesthesia subsided approximately 3-4 weeks after initial injury, and reported no remaining neurologic deficits.

Peripheral nerve injuries have been described after venipuncture, but the literature is limited. Nerves in the antecubital fossa classically lie on a plane just beneath, and in close proximity to, the veins, making them susceptible to injury during phlebotomy; also it has been shown that there is a large range of anatomic variation, suggesting that even a non-traumatic, satisfactory venipuncture can directly damage these nerves. Anesthesiologists must be aware of this possible complication, diagnosis and prognostication to adequately counsel patients in the event that this complication occurs.