A dermal (skin) puncture may be required when a venipuncture cannot be performed or may be the option for some point-of-care test procedures. A dermal puncture may be a fingerstick or, in the case of small infants, a heelstick.
Patient safety involves proper identification prior to specimen collection, care in preparing the collection site, proper technique during collection, and treatment of the puncture wound following collection.
The technique that is used for the collection of the specimen must also prevent the introduction of errors that could cause the specimen to be rejected and require recollection.
