You are accessing this site in a read-only mode. For full access to all member benefits, including message posting, please login or register. Registration is completely free, simple, and takes only a few seconds.
The message you are replying to and its parents are listed in the reverse order with the most recent posts first. This might not be the whole discussion thread. To read all the messages in this thread please click here.
needlestick injury via a hollow-bore needle
| seagate1556@hotmail.com | 28 Jul 2006 23:53 |
Hello, everyone. This happened about an year ago, and maybe it was foolhardy of me to keep it to myself. ( or maybe I'm a little paranoid for thinking about it )
At around the same time last year, I was giving a patient a lidocaine injection within the buccal mucosal fold of his upper left third molar. ( in other words, the 'pink' movable soft tissue around the roots of his upper left wisdom tooth )
After the injection, I withdrew the needle to re-cap it but it headed for my left index finger instead. I pulled away my left hand right away as I felt a really sharp pinch. I was wearing latex gloves at the time. I didn't see any visible puncture marks on the finger and there was no visible blood to be seen on both my finger and needle. I pressed hard onto the area of injury and I wasn't able to elicit any bleeding.
The patient was a ~35 yr old male living in a rehab center for former prison inmates, drug addicts, and HIV-positive patients. He happened to be a native of south Bronx, NYC, a low socio-economic area. He claimed to be free of bloodborne diseases but admits to having smoked marijuana in the past. At the time of his dental treatment, he was maritally single but had 2 children and multiple sex partners in his lifetime. He has a criminal history but was trying to get his life back in order. His medical history is positive only for solar urticaria and asthma. ( I don't know if I'm able to trust him completely on his medical history )
Anyways, am I being too paranoid for thinking I could have contracted HIV, hep b, or hep c from this patient? ( assuming he was positive for all three ) Even though I didn't see blood, I could have been microscopically exposed, right? Could I have contracted anything?
Thanks.
|
Quick links: