Thrombin-accelerated quick clotting serum tubes: an evaluation with 22 common biochemical analytes

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Laboratory Medicine
• Preanalytical Variables

Background:

• Clinical laboratories face increasing workloads and demand for faster test result reporting.
• Optimizing preanalytical variables is crucial for improving laboratory efficiency and performance.
• Current widely used Serum Separator Tubes (SSTs) have established performance benchmarks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of BD Vacutainer Rapid Serum Tubes (RSTs) in comparison to BD Vacutainer Serum Separator Tubes (SSTs).
• To assess test result comparability, clotting time, and serum analyte stability between RSTs and SSTs.
• To determine the potential of RSTs in reducing turnaround times in clinical laboratories.

Main Methods:

• A field study was conducted comparing BD Vacutainer RSTs and SSTs.
• Test performance was evaluated for renal, liver, lipid, cardiac, thyroid, and prostate biochemical markers.
• Clotting times and analyte stability at 4°C over 4 days were assessed in a study population of 160 patients and healthy subjects.

Main Results:

• Biochemical marker results from RSTs were comparable to those from SSTs.
• RSTs demonstrated significantly faster clotting times, with a median of 2.05 minutes.
• Analyte stability was maintained for 4 days at 4°C, with minor exceptions for bicarbonate, electrolytes, and albumin.

Conclusions:

• BD Vacutainer RSTs significantly reduce serum specimen clotting time compared to SSTs.
• The use of RSTs can lead to further reductions in overall blood collection to result reporting time.
• RSTs offer a viable alternative to SSTs, providing time savings without substantial compromise on test accuracy and performance.