Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Fingerprick
Introduction
In medicine, some blood tests are conducted on venous blood obtained by fingerprick. There are various ways of opening a small wound that produces no more than a few drops of blood. The procedure can be painful, but may be quicker and less distressing than venipuncture.
After a droplet has formed, venous blood is sucked up by a capillary (a thin glass tube), usually passively or sometimes by indirect suction.
Tests commonly conducted on capillary blood are:
- glucose levels – diabetics often have a portable blood meter to check on their blood sugar.
- hemoglobin levels – fingerprick testing of hemoglobin is a quick screening procedure to check if a blood donor has a high enough blood count to be allowed to donate blood.
Fingerpricks are sometimes done on children and the elderly, when only a small amount of blood (less than 500 μg) is needed for a test. Neonates (newborn babies) are given heelpricks instead, as this is less likely to cause permanent damage (and because babies have very small fingers).
External links
- Details from Euromedix
- Heelpricks (see section “Blood collection on babies”)
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]