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What is the minimum volume of blood that should be collected into a BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tube?
The significance of the correct ratio of blood to additive for coagulation samples is well documented. The correct fill amount is critical for correct coagulation analysis. All BD Vacutainer® plastic coagulation tubes have a mark indicating the minimum fill level.
What are the centrifugation recommendations for the BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes?
Centrifugation conditions: Glass tubes: 1500 RCF for 15 min. Plastic tubes: 2000-2500 RCF for 10-15 min.
What does the line mean on BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes?
The etched fill indicator on the plastic citrate tubes indicates the minimum acceptable blood volume in the tube.
Does BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes allow for enough volume of plasma for testing?
The following bullet points demonstrate that there is enough plasma to perform coagulation testing in a patient with an average hematocrit of 45%.
Tests in a 1.8 mL Plastic Citrate Tube Assuming a Patient Hematocrit of 45:
For 2.7 mL Plus Citrate Tube Assuming a Hct of 45:
Is a discard tube needed if the only tube being collected is a coagulation tube?
There have been recent articles indicating that drawing a discard tube is not necessary before drawing the sodium citrate tube. In the CLSI coagulation document (H21-A5) it is still recommended that the citrate tube is the second or third tube drawn. However, in the CLSI guideline for Venipuncture Collection (H3-A6) it states that for routine PT and APTT, the first tube drawn may be used for testing.
It is also important to ensure a discard tube is drawn when a blood collection set is used and only a citrate tube is ordered, as the tubing may contain up to 0.5 mL of air that will be drawn into the tube and displace blood volume.
How can the 1.8 mL and 2.7 mL BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes be differentiated?
The 1.8 mL tube has a light blue rubber stopper covered with a translucent BD Hemogard™ and the 2.7 mL tube has a light blue rubber stopper covered with a solid light blue BD Hemogard™ closure.
What is the blood to additive ratio in the BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes?
The blood to additive ratio is 9 parts blood to 1 part sodium citrate.
What is the additive volume in the BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes?
The 1.8 mL draw BD Vacutainer® Citrate Blood Collection Tubes contains 0.2mL of sodium citrate, and the 2.7 mL draw contains 0.3 mL of sodium citrate.
What is the effect of hemolysis on coagulation results?
Hemolyzed specimens should not be processed since there could be activation of the clotting factors. Lipemic or icteric specimens may also interfere with the instrumentation's optical system affecting the coagulation specimen result.
What constitutes a tube inversion?
An inversion is one complete turn of the wrist, 180 degrees, and back. BD recommends that citrate tubes be inverted 3 to 4 times.
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