To improve the success rate of puncture among senile patients with difficulties in venipuncture by applying the near-infrared visualization puncture technology.

This study selected 160 elderly patients with difficulties in peripheral venipuncture of department of General Surgery and Geriatric Medicine Department by random sampling to carry out peripheral venipuncture at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University from June 2015 to December 2016. Those patients were divided into control group and observation group with the random number table, 80 patients in each group. Patients in control group received peripheral venipuncture by nurses' personal experience along with assessing vessel by routine visual method and touch method without any accessory equipment. Patients in observation group received peripheral venipuncture by the location of infrared vessel imager. The infrared vessel imager was used to evaluate the vessel shape and depth to understand vascular branches so as to locate target vessel. And then, this study compared the success rate, time and site of punctures between two groups.

The success rate of first puncture of observation group was 91.25% significantly higher than that of control group (χ²=43.495, P<0.01) . The puncture time [ (3.7±1.8) min]of observation group was less than that of control group with a significant difference (t=4.629, P<0.01) . In the aspect of site of punctures, there was 72.5% of patients with punctures in observation group in forearm vein higher than that in control group (χ²=46.920, P<0.01) .

The near-infrared visualization puncture technology can improve the success rate of puncture in elderly patients with difficulties in peripheral venipuncture, short the puncture time and help to achieve forearm venipuncture with the first choice. This technology can also relieve the pain of elderly patients, save consumptive material cost and reduce nurses' pressure on puncture. It is worth to be used widely in clinical application.

Aged; Venipuncture; Visualization technique