As you take care of your loved ones especially as they visit the hospital for various illnesses, there may be need to give them injections or surgically create a port especially in cases of chemotherapy. Sometimes, you might hear the nurses asking for non-coring needles or insisting on their use for your loved ones. Here is all you need to know about non-coring needles and why they are used and how they are different from regular needles.
What is a non-coring needle?
A non-Coring Needle is a type of needle for injections which is especially sharp and has been specially smoothed to reduce unnecessary coring during use. Coring occurs either when a needle is pierced through a vial closure to withdraw drugs from the vial or expel drugs into the vial. This process can lead to a needle shearing out cores (or small pieces of rubber) from the rubber closure as it pierces the closure. These pieces are mostly very small and cannot be seen with the naked eyes. This can also occur in the skin and surrounding tissues when an injection pierces the skin.
This is a problem because these small pieces can potentially be withdrawn from skin and surrounding tissues or the vial into the syringe and may possibly be injected into the patient. Coring is a problem both for the pharmaceutical companies and the doctors in the management of patients. Coring can be caused by several factors either from the rubber, the needle qualities, or the users’ technique. Coring is more likely if a needle is blunt, has a blunt tip, or has been reused. The non-coring needle is a solution by pharmaceutical companies to the problem of coring during injection and procedures.
The Non-Coring Needle features an oblique portion with a cutting tip where the tip raises above the midline to minimize friction with the surrounding tissue.
Differences between a coring and non-coring needle
- A coring needle is hollow unlike a non-coring needle.
- Coring needles has a beveled cutting tip unlike non-coring needles that have deflected bevel tip.
- The tip of a coring needle is straight and not bent or angled unlike a non-coring needle which has an angled tip that makes the cutting surface almost perpendicular to the shaft of the needle.
- Use of a coring needle is associated with coring, unlike a non-coring needle where tiny pieces of tissue are not pushed into the system.
Uses of a non-coring needle
The Non-Coring Needle has several uses and is used in procedures and situations where coring would be potentially dangerous.
- It can be used to access an infusion line.
- A non-coring needle can also be used to insert a mixed syringe tube into the blood circuit and blood collection tube.
- It can be used to access an implanted port mostly in oncology settings. This is a tunneled venous catheter surgically created beneath the skin. It provides patients and health professionals with reliable vascular access when needed for infusion of drugs including chemo.
- Some needles used for lumbar puncture like the tuohy needle are also non-coring.
Sizes of Non-coring needles
The needles come in several gauge sizes. They are:
19G,
20G,
21G,
22G,
23G,
24G and
25G
these sizes can go all the way to 30G depending on several factors and based on the indication for use
Benefits of a non-coring needle
The main benefit of a non-coring needle lies in its ability to minimize all forms of coring. This will reduce the chances of injection of any punctured item including rubber or tiny fragment of skin tissue into the body.
It also minimizes trauma and damage to the skin and tissues when in use.
So when next a non-coring needle is required or specifically asked for, above are all the information you need.