Specimen must arrive within 4 hours of draw.
Submit only 1 of the following specimens:
Blood
Container/Tube: Light blue-top (3.2% sodium citrate) tube
Specimen Volume: 2.5 mL of sodium citrate whole blood
Transport Temperature: Ambient
Collection Instructions: If testing will not be performed within 4 hours of draw, refer to plasma instructions below.
Note: 1. Excessively high or low hematocrit will affect results.
2. Tube must be completely filled to ensure proper ratio of blood to anticoagulant and to avoid erroneous results.
3. Use and discard a light blue-top tube (in order to fill tubing) when drawing with a butterfly needle.
Plasma
Container/Tube: Light blue-top (3.2% sodium citrate) tube
Specimen Volume: 1 mL of sodium citrate plasma
Transport Temperature: Frozen
Collection Instructions: Spin down immediately. If there is a delay in transport of ≥ 4 hours, send specimen frozen in plastic vial.
Note: 1. Excessively high or low hematocrit will affect results.
2. Tube must be completely filled to ensure proper ratio of blood to anticoagulant and to avoid erroneous results.
3. Use and discard a light blue-top tube (in order to fill tubing) when drawing with a butterfly needle.
Light Scatter
Useful for following heparin therapy or identifying clotting abnormalities.
23-30.5 seconds
Critical value (automatic call-back): >130 seconds
Monday through Sunday
Available STAT
85730