Hematologia en aves

BLOOD COLLECTION

Jugular venipuncture is a procedure that can be used for collecting blood from most avian species.6,18,34,38,71 It is the method of choice for small birds that do not have otherblood vessels large enough for venipuncture. The right jugular vein is usually chosen over the left for blood collection because in many birds it is the larger of the two. To collect blood from thejugular vein,the birds is properly restrained with the head and neck extended (figure 9.2). Extending the neck encourages the highly movable jugular vein to fall into the jugular furrow. In manyspecies,there is a featherless tract of skin (apterium) overlying the jugular vein; therefore,lightly wetting the feathers with alcohol in this area will aid in the visualization of the vein. Blood iscollected into a syringe, and the size of needle is governed by the size of the vein. Complications of jugular venipuncture include difficulty in proper restraint of the bird or stabilizacion of the veinand hematoma formation. Improper attention to technique and hemostasis can cause a large hematoma to form during or following jugular venipuncture.however, jugular venipuncture becomes a skill perfectedwith practice,and complications are infrequent in skilled hands.
Venipuncture of the ulnar or wing vein is a common method for obtaining blood from medium to large birds. A needle is inserted intothe vein,which is found crossing the ventral surface of the humero-radioulnar joint (elbow) (figure 9.3). Blood is either aspirated into a syringe or allowed to drip from the needle hub into amicrocollection device. Collecting blood in this manner reduces but does not eliminate hematoma formation. A variety of these devices is available.a-c These collecting tubes contain EDTA for hematologystudies, are plain (with or without a serum separator) or contain heparin (lithium heparin is the preferred form) for blood chemistry studies.hematoma formation, which can be severe,is common when the...