Saturday, June 29, 2013

Different Tubes For 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.

Once the nurse has completed the note for these sample, the collected fluid will then be put in the correct tubes. The person should know that there is a variety of colored stopper caps for every tube. Here are the tube types that the person might want to know more about.

The first one is the red top. It is actually a common type of tube that a medical personnel will use when performing medical tests such as blood typing, cross-matching, and other similar ones. It has a wide range of use so it is common to see this. There is no additive in this tube, though.

Another one is the SST or the serum separator tube. In some medical laboratories, the said tube is being called as the tiger top. This is the kind of tube which contains polymer gel and even clot activator. These additives will help in separating out the serum when this tube is placed in the centrifuge.

Be sure to know what lavender top is. This is another popular tube that one should be able to handle. With this type of tube, the person can easily get the stats for the blood count. This is made easier by the additive in the said tube which is called EDTA. The EDTA is an anticoagulant additive that chelates 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.

Take advantage of the light gray top as well. There is sodium fluoride, antiglycolytic agents, and potassium oxylates in this tube. These additives will just help preserve the glucose in the fluid for as much as five days. This fundamentally means that the individual can obtain the glucose level when using this kind of tube for blood specimen collection.




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