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Potassium test - Risks

Alternative Names

Hypokalemia test; K+

What the risks are:

There is very little risk involved with having your blood taken. Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Taking blood from some people may be more difficult than from others.

Other risks associated with having blood drawn are slight but may include:

  • Excessive bleeding
  • Fainting or feeling light-headed
  • Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
  • Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)

Special considerations:

If it is difficult to get the needle into the vein to take the blood sample, injury to the red blood cells may cause potassium to be released, causing a falsely high result.

  • Reviewed last on: 5/30/2011
  • David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Mount DB, Zandi-Nejad K. Disorders of potassium balance. In: Brenner BM, eds. Brenner and Rector’s The Kidney. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 15.

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