What is Phlebotomy?
What is Phlebotomy?
What is phlebotomy? Phlebotomy is actually the act of extracting blood from a person’s veins, capillaries, or arteries with the use of needles. The actual word Phlebotomy comes from the Greek word root phleb/o, which means vein. The word torn means to puncture, and the suffix -y which means process. When you put it all together it spells out “process of puncturing veins”.
The Ancient Greeks are recognized as the first to use phlebotomy or amongst the first to “invent” phlebotomy, but this was not collection of blood for diagnostic testing. Phlebotomy was invented around the time of Hippocrates. The person who invented phlebotomy is not known. In ancient times, all the way up to the 19th century, they would use blood as an attempt to cure illnesses and disease. They would usually withdrawal large amounts of blood for these practices. This practice was known as “bloodletting”. The practice has been largely abandoned due to its modern medicine and proven ineffectiveness. The practice was also known in Islamic medicine. It was thought to be passed on by the Greeks.
In the early 1800s, when it was discovered that bloodletting was proven ineffective as far as removing disease from the blood, that is when phlebotomy was introduced. There are some that claim that phlebotomy is just a new name for bloodletting. Rather than being used for treatment treatment, phlebotomy had become part of a diagnostic process.
When blood is extracted, it is used for diagnostic purposes to determine the patient’s health condition. It is used to test blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. DNA tests and pregnancy tests are easily performed with blood samples. It is also used for blood transfusions. Many dangerous and/or deadly diseases would go undiagnosed without the discovery of phlebotomy.
Phlebotomy is an almost necessary part of today’s modern health care industry. A licensed phlebotomy technician is authorized to extract blood from a patient. The area is sterilized against infection with a swab of isopropyl alcohol. The technician punctures the skin with the tip of the needle and slowly inserts it into the vein. She will then draw back the plunger on the syringe to take the sample. She will then simply remove the tube. The most common way for blood to be collected is by a vacuum tube, which allows for blood to be drawn quickly and easily. There are very minor risks to having blood withdrawn. The most common are minor infections in the area where the needle has punctured the skin. More dangerous issues can arise if non-sterile materials are used for phlebotomy. This is why it is so important that needles are never to be reused and the skin surrounding the vein is sterilized with alcohol.
