Ease Up on the Buttonholes

[BobN]

Quick tip for anyone in the early stages of home memo.

I was told that buttonholes generally bleed less than regular sharp-needle insertion sites.

So, I couldn't figure out why mine were taking twice as long to stop.  Figured I had to be hosing it up somehow.

Lo and behold, I was right.

Turns out, I was pressing too hard with the gauze.  It was constricting my vessel and when I let it go to check whether it had stopped - kablooey.

(It didn't actually make that sound, but that's the kind of sound I thought gushing blood would make.)

It took me almost 25 minutes to stop for one of my treatments.

So, I eased up the pressure.  Enough to keep the gauze on, but not enough to strangulate my fistula.

Since making that change, it has never taken me longer than 5 minutes to stop, and there's practically no blood on the gauze.

Just wanted to post in case anyone else is having a similar issue.

[Speedy1wrc]

Correct, you shouldn't put pressure on the guaze.

One other reason is that you don't want the needle to scrape agains the side of the tract while pulling it out.

I have maybe a 1/4" sized spot of blood on the gauze when I pull it off after 5 minutes. I then loosely tape a folded 2x2 over it and when I take that off after a few hours, and there is nothing on that.

[amanda100wilson]

i generally tape the gauze (use super stoppers), pull the needle and then tape a little harder and use that to hold pressure.

[Speedy1wrc]

Whatever method you choose to use and there are many, you should use as little pressure as possible. You should use just enough to stop the bleeding. In center protocols are finally changing to go away from clamps and use 2 finger holding instead. Too much pressure can cause clotting which ultimately can lead to fistula failure.