Types of Blood Collection Tubes

Vacuum blood collection tubes are essential disposable tools in medical settings, designed for precise quantitative blood collection. These tubes, used in conjunction with venous blood collection needles, are favored for their ease of use, cleanliness, safety, accuracy, and reliability, making them a staple in hospital environments.

The distinguishing feature of these tubes lies in their color-coded caps, following international standards to differentiate between various additives and the intended purpose of the tube. This color-coded system helps prevent errors during blood collection and testing procedures.

Red-top Tubes: These tubes are additive-free and are commonly employed in biochemical, immunological, serological, and virus testing in medical examinations. They feature specially treated inner walls that are exceptionally smooth, preventing any adherence of solutions, cells, or fibrin. This design ensures uncontaminated serum specimens for clinical testing, maintaining the normal serum components over time and enabling repeat testing with consistent results.

Orange Tubes: The orange-top tubes are coagulation tubes containing specialized coagulants for swift serum preparation in clinical examinations, especially in emergency biochemical and immunological tests. The coagulants are evenly distributed on the inner walls of the tube, maximizing contact with the blood sample. This design minimizes interference with serum quality, ensuring efficient serum production.

Yellow Tubes: These tubes, also for coagulation, contain specialized coagulants and separation gel, offering high heat resistance and stability. They are used for collecting blood specimens for biochemical and immunological examinations, clotting blood rapidly to produce quality serum through centrifugation. These tubes effectively prevent clotting issues, hemolysis, and fibrin precipitation, meeting the demands of rapid outpatient and emergency serum tests.

Green Tubes: Green-top tubes contain heparin anticoagulants in the form of sodium or lithium salts. They are used for collecting blood plasma in clinical settings, emergency biochemistry, hemorheology measurements, and trace element blood specimens. These tubes have minimal interference with blood components, facilitate quick plasma separation, and are suitable for a wide range of operating temperatures.

Black Tubes: The black-top tubes are used for ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) tests and require a specific anticoagulant to blood ratio. These tubes are compatible with various ESR analyzers but require patience during blood collection due to their low negative pressure. Proper mixing is crucial to avoid issues like hemolysis or coagulation, which could affect test results.

Blue Tubes: Blue-top tubes are designated for coagulation tests, utilizing sodium citrate as an anticoagulant. The ratio of anticoagulant to blood sample is crucial for accurate results, with unique stress film treatment on the inner wall to minimize activation of the coagulation mechanism.

Purple Tubes: Hematology tubes contain EDTA anticoagulant and are used for clinical hematology examinations, blood type identification, and more. They offer protection for blood cells, especially platelets, preventing aggregation and maintaining cell morphology and volume over time.

The widespread use of vacuum blood collection systems has revolutionized specimen testing in medical settings. These systems provide rapid testing, minimize interference with blood results, reduce the risk of infections, standardize laboratory techniques, and enhance the quality of test specimens, ultimately benefiting patient care significantly.