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Last February, the Oncology unit at The Children’s Hospital of
Southwest Florida had a dilemma.
An 18-month-old patient was having a sickle-cell anemia attack.
He needed intravenous medicine immediately. Unfortunately, with
this child and quite frequently with many other children, it is
often hard to find the veins, which could result in multiple
needle sticks and discomfort.
Complicating the possible discomfort of the needle sticks for an
IV is the complexity and challenges of sickle-cell anemia.
Sickle-cell is a hereditary disease that causes red blood cells
to become sickle-shaped and sticky, which can lead to painfully
clogged blood vessels, serious infections and organ damage.
Fortunately, just that very day a rare piece of equipment had
just arrived at The Children’s Hospital … a VeinViewer. With the
help of the new technology, the staff was able to find a vein on
the first try to give the child his medicine.
The VeinViewer uses near-infrared lighting to “light up” all of
the veins in a patient’s hand or foot, making it much easier for
clinicians to identify veins and administer injections or start
IVs.
“This technology is so advanced that clinicians can not just
find the veins, but they can find the best veins,” says Dr. John
Iacuone, Executive Director of The Children’s Hospital of
Southwest Florida. “It’s like X-ray vision for Superman.”
The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida pursued the
VeinViewer technology because needle sticks, IVs and shots are
the No. 1 fear of children who come to the hospital. Anything we
can do to lessen the fear of our patients is worth it!
VeinViewers, which are only available at The Children’s Hospital
of Southwest Florida, were purchased for the health system by
the Lee Memorial Auxiliary and Lee Memorial Health System
Foundation.
To learn more about our Children’s Hospital, please
click here.
Peace,
Jim Nathan, LMHS President
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