Patterns of superficial antecubital veins observed by near-infrared light technique: A community-based study

Abstract

<b>Background: </b>The area of the cubital fossa contains the main superficial veins, including the basilic, cephalic, median cubital, and median antebrachial veins, and their innominate small tributaries. For this reason, it is the area most preferred by medical practitioners to access the circulatory system for various clinical applications.<br /> <b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study was to address the prevalence of different types of antecubital fossa superficial vein patterns observable among Saudi subjects by applying a tourniquet and using a VeinViewer®.<br /> <b>Materials and methods:</b><b> </b>Over the period from September 2020 to April 2021, a cross-sectional study was carried out in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The 151 study subjects were randomly chosen from the emergency department of King Fahad University Hospital. A total of 302 venous patterns were obtained; 55 were excluded due to the presence of scar tissues over the antecubital fossa, obesity, or thick subcutaneous tissue. Four classes of cubital venous patterns were established according to other studies, and a VeinViewer® and a tourniquet were used to visualize the venous patterns.<br /> <b>Results: </b>Of the 151 people, 21 were female and 130 were male. Among the included 247 venous patterns, the predominant type was type 2 (52.2%), characterized by a branching off the median cubital vein from the cephalic vein and an upward progression to join the basilic vein.<br /> <b>Conclusion: </b>Type 2 appears to be the dominant pattern, with no significant relation to the origins of the parents, in the Saudi population. Gender does not influence the venous patterns. Further studies are needed outside the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic to obtain a larger sample.

Subcutaneous vein display device based on dual wavelength LED source

“…In clinical practice, intravenous infusion is one of the most common treatment methods. It is very important to quickly and accurately search for venous vessels during infusion at night or in dark light conditions and in emergency situations [1][2][3][4][5][6] .However, for children, the elderly, and patients whose veins are not easily exposed, it is difficult for medical staff to quickly and accurately find veins and successfully puncture them.Repeated needling not only brings pain and irritation to patients, but also risks the repeated stimulation of needles to induce venous inflammation, which will also lead to the failure of venous puncture and become the fuse of medical and patient accidents. Especially in pediatrics, because the blood vessels of children are very small and difficult to locate accurately, increasing the number of punctures is easy to cause disputes between doctors and patients.…”