Article
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
To mix or not to mix venous blood samples collected in vacuum tubes?
-
Anna Parenmark
Published/Copyright:
September 8, 2011
Abstract
Background: There are recommendations to mix venous blood samples by inverting the tubes immediately after venipuncture. Though mixing allows efficient anticoagulation in plasma tubes and fast initiation of coagulation in serum tubes, the effect on laboratory analyses and risk of haemolysis has not been thoroughly evaluated.
Methods: Venous blood samples were collected by venipuncture in vacuum tubes from 50 patients (10 or 20 patients in each group). Four types of tubes and 18 parameters used in routine clinical chemistry were evaluated. For each patient and tube, three types of mixing strategies were used: instant mixing, no mixing and 5 min of rest followed by mixing.
Results: Most analyses did not differ significantly in samples admitted to different mixing strategies. Plasma lactate dehydrogenase and haemolysis index showed a small but significant increase in samples omitted to instant mixing compared to samples without mixing. However, in one out of twenty non-mixed samples, activated partial thromboplastin time was seriously affected.
Conclusions: These results indicate that mixing blood samples after venipuncture is not mandatory for all types of tubes. Instant mixing may introduce interference for those analyses susceptible to haemolysis. However, tubes with liquid-based citrate buffer for coagulation testing should be mixed to avoid clotting.
Received: 2011-5-10
Accepted: 2011-8-11
Published Online: 2011-9-8
Published in Print: 2011-12-1
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
You are currently not able to access this content.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Appropriate labelling of blood collection tubes: a step ahead towards patient’s safety
- Reviews
- New insights into adipose tissue dysfunction in insulin resistance
- Role of biomarkers in cardioncology
- Minireviews
- Measurement of the pro-hormone of brain type natriuretic peptide (proBNP): methodological considerations and pathophysiological relevance
- High-sensitivity troponin assays in the evaluation of patients with acute chest pain in the emergency department
- Opinion Paper
- Regulation of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) for use in clinical diagnostic laboratories: towards the light or dark in clinical laboratory testing?
- Guidelines and Recommendations
- The Greek way to the Register: the establishment and operation of the Register for Clinical Chemists-Clinical Biochemists in Greece
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- Rapid HLA-B27 screening with real-time TaqMan PCR: a clinical validation in the Dutch population
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Results of the recalibration of creatinine measurement with the modular Beckman Coulter® Jaffe creatinine method
- Heterophilic antibody interference in commercial immunoassays; a screening study using paired native and pre-blocked sera
- Oxidative status in the lungs associated with tobacco smoke exposure
- Correlation of cortisol in 1-cm hair segment with salivary cortisol in human: hair cortisol as an endogenous biomarker
- Evaluation of the MassTrak Immunosuppressant XE Kit for the determination of everolimus and cyclosporin A in human whole blood employing isotopically labeled internal standards
- Simultaneous determination of cyclophosphamide and 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry – application to Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus patients
- Sterol profiles in plasma and erythrocyte membranes in patients with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: a six-year experience
- Chemistry and haematology sample rejection and clinical impact in a tertiary laboratory in Cape Town
- Trefoil factor family peptides are increased in the saliva of children with mucositis
- Validation of commercial assays for measurements of trefoil factor family peptides in serum
- To mix or not to mix venous blood samples collected in vacuum tubes?
- Rapid and simple IgG specific test for the exclusion of heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)
- β-Thalassemia mutations in subjects with borderline HbA2 values: a pilot study in North India
- Cancer Diagnostics
- Genetic variants in miR-146a, miR-149, miR-196a2, miR-499 and their influence on relative expression in lung cancers
- The diagnostic accuracy of two human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) testing systems in combination with CA125 in the differential diagnosis of ovarian masses
- Infectious Diseases
- Measurement of granulocyte maturation may improve the early diagnosis of the septic state
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Influence of hemolysis on troponin testing: studies on Beckman Coulter UniCel Dxl 800 Accu-TnI and overview of the literature
- Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and congenital heart disease: a meta-analysis
- Determination of asymmetric dimethyl arginine in human serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: clinical application in hypertensive subjects
- Diabetes
- The optimal cut-points of HbA1c for detecting newly diagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes in the Chinese population living in Sichuan
- Letters to the Editor
- Specimen labelling: before or after collection?
- Effect of storage conditions and freeze/thaw cycles on aquaporin-4 antibody (NMO-IgG) serum levels
- Comparison of vancomycin concentrations in blood and interstitial fluid: a possible model for less invasive therapeutic drug monitoring
- Acknowledgement
- Acknowledgement
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Appropriate labelling of blood collection tubes: a step ahead towards patient’s safety
- Reviews
- New insights into adipose tissue dysfunction in insulin resistance
- Role of biomarkers in cardioncology
- Minireviews
- Measurement of the pro-hormone of brain type natriuretic peptide (proBNP): methodological considerations and pathophysiological relevance
- High-sensitivity troponin assays in the evaluation of patients with acute chest pain in the emergency department
- Opinion Paper
- Regulation of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) for use in clinical diagnostic laboratories: towards the light or dark in clinical laboratory testing?
- Guidelines and Recommendations
- The Greek way to the Register: the establishment and operation of the Register for Clinical Chemists-Clinical Biochemists in Greece
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- Rapid HLA-B27 screening with real-time TaqMan PCR: a clinical validation in the Dutch population
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Results of the recalibration of creatinine measurement with the modular Beckman Coulter® Jaffe creatinine method
- Heterophilic antibody interference in commercial immunoassays; a screening study using paired native and pre-blocked sera
- Oxidative status in the lungs associated with tobacco smoke exposure
- Correlation of cortisol in 1-cm hair segment with salivary cortisol in human: hair cortisol as an endogenous biomarker
- Evaluation of the MassTrak Immunosuppressant XE Kit for the determination of everolimus and cyclosporin A in human whole blood employing isotopically labeled internal standards
- Simultaneous determination of cyclophosphamide and 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry – application to Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus patients
- Sterol profiles in plasma and erythrocyte membranes in patients with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: a six-year experience
- Chemistry and haematology sample rejection and clinical impact in a tertiary laboratory in Cape Town
- Trefoil factor family peptides are increased in the saliva of children with mucositis
- Validation of commercial assays for measurements of trefoil factor family peptides in serum
- To mix or not to mix venous blood samples collected in vacuum tubes?
- Rapid and simple IgG specific test for the exclusion of heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)
- β-Thalassemia mutations in subjects with borderline HbA2 values: a pilot study in North India
- Cancer Diagnostics
- Genetic variants in miR-146a, miR-149, miR-196a2, miR-499 and their influence on relative expression in lung cancers
- The diagnostic accuracy of two human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) testing systems in combination with CA125 in the differential diagnosis of ovarian masses
- Infectious Diseases
- Measurement of granulocyte maturation may improve the early diagnosis of the septic state
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Influence of hemolysis on troponin testing: studies on Beckman Coulter UniCel Dxl 800 Accu-TnI and overview of the literature
- Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and congenital heart disease: a meta-analysis
- Determination of asymmetric dimethyl arginine in human serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: clinical application in hypertensive subjects
- Diabetes
- The optimal cut-points of HbA1c for detecting newly diagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes in the Chinese population living in Sichuan
- Letters to the Editor
- Specimen labelling: before or after collection?
- Effect of storage conditions and freeze/thaw cycles on aquaporin-4 antibody (NMO-IgG) serum levels
- Comparison of vancomycin concentrations in blood and interstitial fluid: a possible model for less invasive therapeutic drug monitoring
- Acknowledgement
- Acknowledgement
