Blood Tubes for Labs: Which Color?
| H&H, CBC CSF, Pleural Fluid Pericardial Fluid Peritoneal Fluid | Dark lavender (hard top) |
|---|
| Basic Metabolic Panel or Comprehensive Metabolic Panel | LIGHT Green |
| Type & Screen Type & Crossmatch | Pink Plastic |
| Glucose Alcohol Lactate Bicarbonate | Gray Top |
Collection. If a red-top tube is used, transfer separated serum to a plastic transport tube.
The goal of blood typing and crossmatching is to find a compatible blood type for transfusion. The results of blood typing will tell you if you are type A, B, AB, or O and if you are Rh negative or positive. If your crossmatch comes back positive, it means it's likely that antibodies were found.
Troponin T. Minimum: 3 mL; plasma separator tube top or TWO Microtainer® devices.
Color table. The color table (palette) occurs in the BMP image file directly after the BMP file header, the DIB header (and after optional three red, green and blue bitmasks if the BITMAPINFOHEADER header with BI_BITFIELDS option is used).
To crossmatch your blood against donor blood or organs, the technician will mix a sample of your blood with a sample of the donor material. Again, they'll check for signs of reaction.
72 hour rule
A blood group and antibody screen expires 72 hours after collection. This internationally accepted safeguard is used to prevent a transfusion reaction in patients who form antibodies to foreign red cell antigens in response to pregnancy or transfusion.Minor Crossmatch. In contrast to the “major” crossmatch (recipient serum vs. donor red blood cells), the “minor” crossmatch is designed to test opposite compatibility: The donor's serum/plasma with the recipient's red cells.
Purple or lavender: K2 EDTA. This is a strong anticoagulant and these tubes are usually used for complete blood counts (CBC). Lavender top tubes are generally used when whole blood is needed for analysis. Can also be used for some blood bank procedures such as blood type and screen.
Major cross-match: Recipient serum is tested against donor packed cells to determine if the recipient has preformed antibodies against any antigens on the donor's cells. Minor cross-match: Recipient red cells are tested against donor serum to detect donor antibodies directed against a patient's antigens.
Group and Save (G&S) and Cross-Match (X-match) are two tests often cause a great deal of confusion: A G&S determines the patient's blood group (ABO and RhD) and screens the blood for any atypical antibodies. The process takes around 40 minutes and no blood is issued.
Yellow-top tube (ACD): Tube contains acid citrate dextrose as an anticoagulant. This tube is used for the collection of whole blood for special studies. Royal blue-top tube: There are 2 types of tubes; one contains the anticoagulant EDTA and the other does not contain an anticoagulant.
Clinical biochemistry tests
| Biochemistry investigation | Sample | Container |
|---|
| Glucose | Blood | Grey |
| Glucose CSF – always include concurrent plasma specimen | CSF and blood | Grey |
| Glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) | Blood | Purple |
| Growth hormone (hGH) | Blood | Yellow |
What is the difference between a group and save and a crossmatch? A group and save is the sample processing • It consists of a blood group and an antibody screen to determine the patients group and whether or not they have atypical red cell antibodies in their blood.
The direct Coombs test is used to test for autoimmune hemolytic anemia—that is, a condition where the immune system breaks down red blood cells, leading to anemia. The direct Coombs test is used to detect antibodies or complement proteins attached to the surface of red blood cells.
Vacutainer is a blood collection tube (sterile glass or plastic tube) used to collect blood samples for laboratory testing.
Order of Draw
- SST (red-gray or gold top).
- Sodium heparin (dark green top)
- Lithium heparin (light green top).
- EDTA (lavender top)
- Oxalate/fluoride (gray top)
Use: EDTA whole blood or plasma. Send plasma in a plastic transport tube labeled “Plasma, EDTA.” Send whole blood in a lavender-top tube. Gray-top tube: Contains sodium fluoride (a preservative) and potassium oxalate (an anticoagulant).
Blood should be collected in a blue-top tube containing 3.2% buffered sodium citrate.
Specimen Collection Requirements
Allow serum to clot completely at room temperature (minimum: SST - 30 minutes and red top tubes - 60 minutes). Centrifuge and separate serum or plasma from cells ASAP. AVOID EXPOSURE TO LIGHT.
