Inspection of infantile index finger veins means to examine the length, color and shape of the veins along the palmar margin to detect pathological changes. This method is applicable for the diagnosis of infants under the age of three. Since artery over cunkou in infants is short and infants tend to cry in clinical examination and affect the accuracy of pulse taking, inspection of index finger veins is usually used to help diagnose because infantile skin is thin and tender and veins are visible.

Infantile index finger vein is divided into wind pass,qi pass and life pass. The first stem of the index finger, the part between metacarpophalangeal transverse lines and the transverse lines on the second stem, is wind pass; the second stem, the part between the transverse line on the second stem and the transverse line on the third stem, is qi pass: and the third stem, the part between the transverse line on the third stem and the top of the index finger, is life pass.

The normal infantile index finger vein is light red and slightly purplish, dimly visible within the wind pass, usually not quite clear or even indistinct. The vein usually appears oblique, singular, moderate in thickness, thicker and longer in hot weather, thinner and shorter in cold weather. It is longer in infants under the age of one and becomes shorter with the increase of age.

Methods for inspecting infantile index finger vein:
The parent carries the infant to the place with full light and the doctor grasps the end of the ,infantile index finger with the left hand and pushes the infantile index finger from the anterior palmar margin of the index finger to the palm direction for several times with the side of the right thumb. The pushing should be moderate in strength and make the vein clearer for observation.

Content of the inspection of infantile index finger vein:
The inspection mainly concentrates on the length, color, floating or sinking, lightness or stagnancy and shape of the vein.

Length:
During the course of a disease, appearance of the index finger vein on the wind-pass indicates that the disease is mild; if it extends to the qi-pass, it means that the disease is serious; if it extends to the life-pass, it shows that the disease is very serious; if it stretches directly to the tip of the finger, it indicates critical condition and unfavorable prognosis.

Color:
Light-colored and whitish vein indicates insufficiency of qi and blood; reddish vein indicates exogenous wind and cold; deep red or purplish vein indicates internal exuberance of heat; bluish vein indicates pain syndrome or convulsion; cyanotic or purplish dark vein indicates stagnation of blood collaterals and critical condition.

Floating and sinking:
Visible and floating vein indicates that the pathogenic factors are in the superficial and that the disease has just occurred; deep and indistinct vein means that the pathogenic factors are in the interior as in the case of internal invasion of pathogenic factors or internal impairment.

Lightness and stagnancy:
Light-colored vein indicates insufficiency of qi and blood; deep and dull color of vein indicates excess of pathogenic factors and stagnation of qi and blood.

Form:
Thin vein indicates asthenia and cold syndromes; thick vein indicates sthenia and heat syndromes; single and oblique vein indicates mild disease; multiple and curled vein indicates serious disease; gradual extension of vein indicates progression of disease; gradual shrinkage of vein indicates alleviation of disease.