[Can a blood sample for diagnostic exams be drawn from a peripheral venous catheter?].

Introduction: Often the blood sample in patients exposed to serial blood exams is taken from the venous cannula (PVC) to avoid a second venipuncture.

Aim: To assess whether blood draws from PVCs are more haemolized than those drawn from phlebotomy, and if the blood drawn from a cannula interferes with the test results.

Methods: A bibliographic search was conducted in PubMed, Cinhal and Ovid, with the following key words: Peripheral Catheter, Blood Specimen Collection, Blood Sample, Haemolysis, 19 articles were identified (including 2 meta analyses), selecting the articles involving emergency departments.