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Tube Guide

BD Vacutainer® Tubes With Hemogard™ Closure	BD Vacutainer® Tubes With Conventional Stopper	Additive	Inversions at Blood Collection	Laboratory Use
Gold	Red/Black	Clot activator and gel for serum separation	5	BD Vacutainer® SST™ Tube for serum determinations in chemistry. Tube inversions ensure mixing of clot activator with blood. Blood clotting time: 30 minutes.
Light Green	Green/Gray	Lithium heparin and gel for plasma separation	8	BD Vacutainer® PST™ Tube for plasma determinations in chemistry. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
Red	Red	None (glass) Clot activator (plastic)	0 5	For serum determinations in chemistry, serology, and immunohematology testing (ABO grouping, Rh typing, antibody screening, red cell phenotyping and DAT testing). Tube inversions ensure mixing of clot activator with blood and clotting within 60 minutes.
Orange	Gray/Yellow	Thrombin	8	For stat serum determinations in chemistry. Tube inversions ensure complete clotting, which usually occurs in less than 5 minutes.
Gold	Red/Black	Sodium heparin (glass) Na2EDTA (glass) No additive (glass serum) Clot activator (plastic serum) K2EDTA (plastic)	8 8 0 5 8	For trace-element, toxicology and nutritional-chemistry determinations. Special stopper formulation provides low levels of trace elements (see package insert).
Green	Green	Sodium heparin Lithium heparin	8 8	For plasma determinations in chemistry. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
Gray	Gray	Potassium oxalate/sodium fluoride Sodium fluoride/Na2 EDTA Sodium fluoride (serum tube)	8 8 8	For lead determinations. This tube is certified to contain less than .01 µg/mL(ppm) lead. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
	Yellow	Sodium polyanethol sulfonate (SPS) Acid citrate dextrose additives (ACD): Solution A - 22.0g/L trisodium citrate, 8.0g/L citric acid, 24.5g/L dextrose Solution B - 13.2g/L trisodium citrate, 4.8g/L citric acid, 14.7g/L dextrose	8 8 8	SPS for blood culture specimen collections in microbiology. Tube inversions prevent clotting. ACD for use in blood bank studies, HLA phenotyping, DNA and paternity testing.
Lavender	Lavender	Liquid K3EDTA (glass) Spray-coated K2EDTA(plastic)	8 8	K3EDTA for whole blood hematology determinations. K2EDTA for whole blood hematology determinations and immunohematology testing (ABO grouping, Rh typing, antibody screening). Tube inversions prevent clotting.
White		K2EDTA with gel	8	For use in molecular diagnostic test methods (such as but not limited to polymerse chain reaction (PCR) and/or branched DNA (bDNA) amplification techniques).
Pink		Spray-coated K2EDTA	8	For whole blood hematology determinations and immunohematology testing (ABO grouping, Rh typing, antibody screening). Designed with special cross-match label for required patient information by the AABB. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
Light Blue Clear	Blue	Buffered sodium citrate 0.105M (˜3.2%) glass 0.109M (˜3.2%) plastic Citrate, theophylline, adenosine, dipyridamole (CTAD)	3-4 3-4	For coagulation determinations. NOTE: Certain tests may require chilled specimens. Follow your institution's recommended procedures for collection and transport. CTAD for selected platelet function assays and routine coagulation determination. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
Clear		None (plastic)	0	For use as a discard tube or secondary specimen collection tube.
Red	Red	None	0	For serum determinations in chemistry and serology. Glass serum tubes are recommended for blood banking. Plastic tubes contain clot activator and are not recommended for blood banking. Tube inversions ensure mixing of clot activator with blood and clotting within 60 minutes.
Green	Green	Sodium heparin Lithium heparin	8 8	For plasma determinations in chemistry. Tube inversions prevent clotting.
Lavender		Liquid K3EDTA (glass) Spray-coated K2EDTA (plastic)	8 8	K3EDTA and K2EDTA for whole blood hematology determinations and immunohematology testing (ABO grouping, Rh typing, antibody screening). Tube inversions prevent clotting.
	Light Blue	105M sodium citrate (˜3.2%)	3-4	For coagulation determinations. Tube inversions prevent clotting. NOTE: Certain tests may require chilled specimens. Follow your institution's recommended procedures for collection and transport of specimen.

Blood Collection Tubes

Light Blue Top: Blue rubber stopper. Sodium citrate as anticoagulant. Available in 2.7 mL and 4.5 mL sizes. This is a siliconized tube containing a citrate solution which is specific for Prothrombin Time and other coagulation tests. The tube should be completely filled, (the ratio of blood to anticoagulant is critical for valid Prothrombin Time results). This tube should be inverted at least six times in order to facilitate mixing and prevent coagulation.

Green Top: Green rubber stopper Sodium or Ammonium Heparin as anticoagulant. Available in 3 mL and 10 mL sizes. After the tube has been filled with blood, it should be inverted at least six times in order to facilitate mixing and prevent coagulation.

Grey Top: Grey rubber stopper. Potassium Oxalate as an anticoagulant. Sodium Fluoride as preservative. Available in various sizes. After the tube has been filled with blood, it should be inverted at least six times in order to facilitate mixing and prevent Coagulation. Used mainly for glucose testing to prevent glycolysis.

Lavender Top: Lavender rubber stopper. EDTA as anticoagulant. Avoid exposure to extreme hot or cold temperatures. Available in 2.5 mL and 4.5 mL. Also available in microtainer sizes for capillary collections. This tube is designed for most hematological procedures. After the tube has been filled with blood, it should be inverted at least six times in order to facilitate mixing and prevent coagulation. Note the 2.5 mL vial is for pediatric specimens and has a transparent lavender top.

Pink Top: The new tube has a PINK top and contains a slightly different formula of EDTA than does the traditional Lavender top tube. This new tube should be used for submitting specimens to the Blood Bank. Only the 7 mL pink top tube is appropriate for Blood Bank orders, as this much whole blood is typically required to complete the requested testing. The introduction of these new pink top tubes does not change the current blood bank labeling requirements.

Red Speckled Top (SST With Clot Activator): This tube is the normal Serum Separator Tube.

Please follow these instructions when using the Barrier Tube or the SST tube with Clot Activator in order to obtain the most accurate test results:

1. Collect blood specimen using the usual venipuncture technique. Fill tube completely.
2. Gently invert barrier tube five times to mix clot activator with blood.
3. Allow blood to clot for 30 minutes.
4. Centrifuge at High Speed for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from centrifuge. Barrier will have formed, separating cells from serum. All of the separation gel should have moved from the bottom of the tube to form a barrier layer.
6. The sample is now ready to be transported to the laboratory. Do not remove stopper.