Evaluation of an alternative centrifugation protocol for reducing total turnaround time

Centrifugation is a key process that should be controlled to ensure an adequate sample quality. To achieve rapid, standardized, and consistent sample centrifugation, we aimed to evaluate an alternative centrifugation protocol and its impact on the results of 20 biochemical determinations in serum.

The study included 45 ambulatory patients. Two serum-separating tubes were collected from each patient (Becton Dickinson (BD) Vacutainer^® SST™ II Advance, 8.5 mL Ref. 366468). One of the tubes was centrifuged at 2,530 ×  g for 10 min (control method), while the other tube was centrifuged under alternative centrifugation conditions, namely 2,530 ×  g for 7 min.

The analysis of results revealed that calcium, total bilirubin, and magnesium exhibited a constant and proportional systematic bias. However, considering the proportional mean difference, all analytes met the desirable bias performance established by our laboratory, except for magnesium, which met the minimum bias criteria.

Our study demonstrates that both centrifugation protocols are interchangeable for measuring the studied analytes, thereby ensuring adequate sample quality.