Rates of Needle-Stick Injury Caused by Various Devices in a University Hospital

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Abstract
We identified characteristics of devices that caused needle-stick injuries in a university hospital over a 10-month period. Hospital employees who reported needle sticks were interviewed about the types of devices causing injury and the circumstances of the injuries. Of 326 injuries studied, disposable syringes accounted for 35 percent, intravenous tubing and needle assemblies for 26 percent, prefilled cartridge syringes for 12 percent, winged steel-needle intravenous sets for 7 percent, phlebotomy needles for 5 percent, intravenous catheter stylets for 2 percent, and other devices for 13 percent. When the data were corrected for the number of each type of device purchased, disposable syringes had the lowest rate of needle sticks (6.9 per 100,000 syringes purchased). Devices that required disassembly had rates of injury of up to 5.3 times the rate for disposable syringes.