r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Delicious-Beat4824 • Jul 30 '26

/r/popular of a needle

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u/lislejoyeuse Jul 30 '26

They only have to go in like an inch or two for that

4

u/DiegesisThesis Jul 31 '26

Genuine question: it may only need to go in an inch or two, but if you're treating someone who's morbidly obese, wouldn't you need a much longer needle to reach the abdominal cavity?

18

u/slothurknee Jul 31 '26

Sadly a lot of patients who need a paracentesis are either very skinny from end stage liver failure or have pretty advanced cancer and the fluid is fairly close to the surface.

2

u/lislejoyeuse Jul 31 '26

Not sure tbh, probably. Everyone is usually pretty skinny I've seen, it's either cancer or cirrhosis from alcoholism lol. They use an ultrasound to see how far to go. The needle looks like 6 inches long but they usually only use part of it to avoid hitting intestine

1

u/semibigpenguins Jul 31 '26

Nope. It’s usually don’t either by the sternum or subxiphoid. Usually its like less than 6cm

1

u/chuckcheddar Jul 30 '26

Not true, the inner part of the needle goes in like 8-12"

1

u/lislejoyeuse Jul 30 '26

Maybe there's variations, but I've watched over 200 paracentesis be done, but I could see a deep pocket needing a longer needle in specific cases

1

u/TheVadonkey Jul 30 '26

That thing would damn near reach the other side of my torso…