26 days ago, an IV was placed in my right hand on top of my wrist by my thumb, when she inserted the needle excruciating pain, like electric shock feeling shot though my hand; she pulled back the needle and the pain stopped.

The inside of my thumb is continualy numb and throbbing, when I reach out to pick-up something I have very sharp stinging pain in my thumb. I had EMG test that came back normal, however the pain I'm having sure feels like it's a nerve problem. I'm not sure what to do at this point, any information would be very helpful.

Thank you,

Christine in Florida

Hmm, sounds to me like the needle went in too close to a nerve. Nurses have no way of really knowing if something is close to a nerve, since IV insertion is done by feel and sight (which is why I am not good at it anymore). Veins are located by sight and palpation. Having an IV close to the thumb is a bit unusual though.

Hopefully it will remit after a while, but it is likely NOT PN, rather related to the IV insertion or medication that you got put in there.

Hope you feel better.

Regrading placing the IV by my wrist towards the thumb area;
The Nurse could not find a good vien in my arm, she commented that I have very small veins; she not the frist person to make that comment about my small veins. I have just started looking for answers to fix this problem, Your repy was very helpful.

Thank you,

Christine

--this qualifies as neuropathy--neuropathy caused by nerve trauma/injury.

Of course, the prognosis depends on how much damage was done to the nerve or nerves--it's possible that what was hit was a small sensory nerve, thinly myelinated or unmyelinated. Damage to meylinated nerves had to be fairly extensive to show up on EMG/NCV studies--and tends not to show up reliably until about six-eight weeks after the damage process begins--and if unmyelinated nerves (the small-fiber ones that subsume the sensations of temperature and pressure) were involved, nerve conduction studies could not discover that at all, as those nerves are simply too narrrow to relibably measure; it might take some qualitiatiive sensory testing comparing that area with other parts of the hand to check that out.

Still, keeping the swelling down in the area, and perhaps some supplements as described in our Vitamins forum (B12 and other B-vitamins, D, fish/flaxseed oil, etc.) would give the best chance for repair.

Have you tried cold packs on it? Is it discolored?

If your hand is showing color changes, I'd get evaluated for RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy). Some people get RSD in the arm from needle sticks in the elbow depression.

One thing showing up in studies, about RSD and wrist/foot trauma is using Vit C to reduce risk of RSD occuring. 500mg to 1000mg a day was used in Britain in several studies. Time period is 50 days or so.

If you think RSD is occurring you best not use cold treatments.

What kind of IV was used may I ask? Some dyes for visualization can leak out of a vein to nearby tissues and cause irritation as well. That happened to me with IVP dye. It also resulted in my tissue making antibodies to it, and I became allergic to it and the next time I had the test, I had a severe allergic reaction. So keep that in mind too.

Typically it can hurt in the hand. I have small veins too, and sometimes I have pain in my hand for a few days after giving blood samples.

This is our RSD forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum21.html

It is good to know if this is happening to you, so you can get intervention, to prevent RSD spread. Sometimes it can spread and be much worse. So I'd ask the folks over there for advice too.

To: glenntaj

Thank you for taking time to post your comment, your vast knowledge on this subject was very helpful and educational. I will heed your advises, and hopefully find an answer.

Thank you,

Christine

Hello,

I had blood taken two days ago in the crease of my arm. When the nurse inserted the needle, an electric pain jolted through my arm into my left thumb, and continued to persist until she removed the needle. For the rest of the day the site of the insertion ached, and was slightly swollen.

Today the pain in my arm went down, as well as the swelling, but I notice that when I fully extend my arm, the site of the insertion aches and if I move it just right I have the same electric pain from yesterday.


I thought that I would also mention that I have suffered from a herniated spinal disc in my lower back in case there are any connections with that and RSD.

Do I have anything to worry about?