Cannula problems
Ok, finally diving into working with cannulas. I started off with a 25 gauge, 50mm cannula, and since I’ve never done it before, I decided to practice with some sterile saline on my leg to get a feel for it and get some techniques down before I moved to other places. Watched a bunch of videos and it looked pretty easy. I am an RN, and have been placing IV’s and giving injections for decades, so this isn’t my first rodeo, but this was different.
Numbed everything up. Made the pilot hole, no problems. Was able to place the cannula, no problems. But had a lot of problems advancing it in certain areas. It felt hard and crunchy, and then it would just like… Push through easily. And then hit another hard, crunchy spot that I had a hard time pushing through. I don’t think I was adjusting the angle of the cannula at that time. It would just like start and stop and start and stop. Tried pushing through some areas, and it just bent the cannula. I could never see the cannula under my skin, so I know it wasn’t overly shallow, but I could fairly easily palpate it. Went in at about a 30 degree angle. I tried stretching the skin a bit too, but that didn’t seem to help.
I tried practicing a fanning technique and just kept hitting resistance everywhere, and it just wasn’t happening. Almost felt like adhesions, but I can’t imagine why it have any of those in my legs as it’s virgin skin. Have a dime sized bruise around the pilot hole as well.
Is it just the leg skin that is harder to do? Do I need a thicker cannula? I want to do some beaux in my hands, but not until I figure out how to do this safely with good technique.