ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Becton Dickinson (BD) Vacutainer tubes are the most widely used vacuum system for collection of blood in clinical laboratories. We compared the performance of two new tubes, Sekisui INSEPACK tube and Green Cross Green Vac-Tube, with the existing BD Vacutainer tubes for 49 common analytes. METHODS: A total of 20 apparently healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. For rountine chemistry and thyroid function tests, we compared the results of two new vacutainer tubes and BD Vacutainer tubes with those of BD glass tubes at t =0 hr by student paired t test. Hematology and coagulation test results of the two new vacutainer tubes were compared with those of BD Vacutainer tubes at t =0 hr. To study the stability of each analyte, results at t =24 +/- 2 hr, t =72 +/- 2 hr, and t =168 +/- 2 hr were compared with those at t =0 hr for each tube. RESULTS: Although paired t test analysis revealed statistically significant differences between two tested tubes and existing BD Vacutainer tube in several tests (total protein, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, glucose, uric acid, calcium, inorganic phosphorus, direct bilirubin, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase, triiodothyronine, and thyroxine), these differences were not considered clinically significant. Stability of two new vacuum tubes for each analyte was similar to that of the BD Vacutainer tube. CONCLUSIONS: Sekisui INSEPACK tube and Green Cross Green-Vac Tube showed a satisfactory analytical performance compared with existing BD Vacutainer tubes. We conclude that these two new plastic vacutainer tubes are acceptable for the commonly ordered laboratory tests.