Lancet sizes - INR vs Blood Glucose sampling

For whatever reason people seem to find themselves asking for advice about getting enough blood, one of the problems is often as simple as not using the right lance. The right lances are supplied with the Roche CoaguChek system.

Note the words CoaguChek, not Accu-Chek ... those are for blood glucose testing and the blood drop size difference is significant. I don't have Accu-Chek, but I do happen to have a different brand which is designed for blood glucose testing called Contour.

The key point is gauge (or diameter). Lets take a look at what I mean. I'm sorry, that magnification is not identical, but the table that follows shows this:

CoaguChek

Contour

to back this up lets look at the measurements I took with my calliper

more than double the thickness...

The point of the exercise is to lance to a minimum depth necessary to get a sufficient sample of blood.; not to create a bigger wound. A bigger diameter wound channel is better for bleeding than a smaller diameter. 

Lastly make sure you're lancing on the side of the finger (as the manual suggests) to avoid harder thicker skin on the hand and to minimise cumulative nerve damage from lancing the same point.

HTH