Is There Really A Need Of Vacuum Tubes In Blood Specimen Collection?

ABSTRACT

Introduction – Pre–analytical phase consists of large proportion of laboratory errors. Proper blood collection and timely processing are critical and first pre–analytical steps required for integrity of laboratory results. The influence of blood collection devices on laboratory tests is often overlooked. In this review, we aim to study the effect of blood collection devices on biochemistry test results. Materials and method – All samples examined were collected from patients that had been referred to laboratories for various clinical chemistry assays. In total 100 patient’s samples were monitored at our institute. Venous blood samples were collected of the same patient using two different modes 1) In vacuum tubes 2) In non–vacuum tubes Parameters analysed were LFT (SGOT, SGPT, ALP, Bilirubin) KFT (urea, creatinine) in plain tubes and Blood Glucose in fluoride tubes. Results and Conclusion – It was observed that there was no significant difference in the results of biochemical parameters analysed from vacuum and non–vacuum tubes. The p–value was not significant. (p>0.05). Thus although incidence of hemolysis, contamination etc. are less in vacuum tubes, non–vacuum tubes have their own advantage of being cost–effective which can be favourable for a government setup where patient load is huge.