Elaine Lennan and Alison Richardson review advice on the safety of venepuncture and cannulation in the ipsilateral arm before chemotherapy
Surgical advances in the treatment of breast cancer have significantly reduced patient morbidity; however, lymphoedema of the ipsilateral arm remains a concern. At the authors’ centre there was consensus that using the ipsilateral arm for venepuncture and cannulation was safe, but also concern that patient information was confusing.
The aim of this project was to understand the variation, if any, in advice published on patient information websites and determine the consistency and strength of the message in relation to avoiding the ipsilateral arm for venepuncture and cannulation.
A review of 17 patient information websites was undertaken to understand scope, depth, accuracy and inconsistencies of information provided.
In the surgical and radiotherapy sections of websites no information was found about the use of the ipsilateral arm for venepuncture and cannulation. In sections on chemotherapy and lymphoedema, information was scant and differed in strength of message. Inconsistent information was provided about using the ipsilateral arm for cannulation and venepuncture, potentially due to a lack of evidence concerning best practice. In response to these findings the authors’ centre is producing a leaflet that addresses the use of the ipsilateral arm for venepuncture and cannulation.
Cancer Nursing Practice. 14, 8, 14-20. doi: 10.7748/cnp.14.8.14.s20
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to double-blind review and has been checked using antiplagiarism software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 30 June 2015
Accepted: 07 August 2015
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