Thursday, 27 June 2013

Common Tubes Used In Blood Specimen Collection

By Estela Bolton


A lot of people these days are required to go through a blood specimen collection. Such is the case when they have medical tests they need to do for some purpose. The said task is done by a certified nurse since these professionals are the ones who are trained and knowledgeable in the act of collecting and handling this fluid.

The nurse is surely the one that the person can entrust this job to. It is fine to rely on the services of the said professional to ensure that the fluid collected is the right one. They are also the one who is knowledgeable enough in this task, thus avoiding any mix-ups. The fluid will be placed in the right tubes.

If the nurse has gotten enough sample for the said test, it will then be sealed in the appropriate tubes. These tubes may or may not have additives in them. Moreover, they have various colored stopper caps which coincides with the medical exam the sample is needed for. Here are the types of tubes that one will have to deal with.

First of all, the person should already be familiar with the most common type which is the red top. This is one of those tubes that does not contain any additives. This is technically a common kind of tube used for collecting the required fluid. It is known to be used in a variety of medical tests which vary from blood typing to cross-matching.

It is also a good idea to know what SST is. This is commonly known as serum separator tube. On the other hand, there are others who call this as the tiger top. The additives in the serum separator tube is the clot activator and polymer gel. These are those agents that can easily separate the serum in the tube while in the centrifuge.

The lavender top is another one of those popular tubes that the person will have to handle. This is the tube that is being used in order to make a complete blood count. The only additive agent in this tube is the EDTA which is an anticoagulant agent. This will be used for chelating the calcium.

The person may also find it helpful to use the dark green top tube. Just like with the majority of the tubes in medical laboratories these days, this kind of tube also contains an additive. In the dark green top tube, the additive in this is the anticoagulant called heparin. With this additive, the individual can easily acquire the stats on the fluid's lithium and ammonia levels.

Another helpful tube in the medical field is the light blue top. This contains the additive known as sodium citrate. There are many uses for the additive called sodium citrate. With this kind of additive, removing calcium from the collective fluid will be a piece of cake.

There is the light gray top too. There are multiple additives included in the said tube. The person can expect having antiglycolytic agents, sodium fluoride, and potassium oxylate in the said tube. With these additives, one can preserve the fluid's glucose for five days at most. This tube will be used for handling blood specimen collection meant for knowing the person's glucose level.




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