
Children's cannulation: What is the problem?
Child admissions to hospitals are in the region of 6 million per year in the NHS alone. Healthcare Practitioners are required to cannulate children (inserting a hollow tube into the vein) on a daily basis but as they have a low threshold for pain and smaller veins (particularly compared to that of an adult), it can often be proved as a difficult procedure to perform with numerous attempts made. This is an image of a child's hand after multiple attempts at cannulation, causing