30mins should be allowed for the clot to form before centrifuging .
• Gel separator tubes should preferably be centrifuged once the clot has solidified . For swinging bucket horizontal centrifuges 10 mins centrifuging time is recommended ; for fixed angle bucket centrifuges 15mins is ideal .
• Refrigeration of gel separated tubes may impede complete barrier formation resulting in leakage of erythrocytes across the barrier with haemolysis . Serum must be decanted for refrigeration .
• EDTA blood samples should be wrapped in tissue paper or bubble-wrap so that they do not come into direct contact with ice packs which can cause haemolysis .
• Samples should not be handled roughly during transport ( try to pack securely to reduce the agitating effects of off-road transport ). When prolonged or rough handling is expected , which is frequently the case in many wildlife scenarios , the serum should be separated from the clot and decanted into another serum or plain tube .
Unlike the situation in domestic animals , in the wildlife situation it is often extremely challenging to collect blood samples and so re-bleeding is frequently not an option , so whenever possible , two serum samples should be collected to reduce the risks of haemolysis and to allow for the running of a wide spectrum of laboratory tests on a single animal .
REFERENCES
1 . Last , R D , Hill J M , Vorster J H , Bosch S J & Griffiths C . 2010 . Vetdiagnostix Laboratory Manual . 2 nd edn . Serrati Publishers , Pretoria .
2 . Kaneko J , Harvey J & Bruss M . 2008 . Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals . 6 th edn . Academic Press , Ames , Iowa .
3 . Weiss D J & Wardrop K J . 2010 . Schalm ’ s Veterinary Hematology . 6 th edn , Wiley-Blackwell , Ames , Iowa .
CPD Questionnaire
Answer the questions on the Vet360 App . Available from the Itunes / Play Store ! Alternative method : Complete your CPD on the traditional webplatform or SMS system follow the link from www . vet360 . vetlink . co . za
Question 01 For plane serum blood tubes containing clot activator ( glass tubes ), what is the recommended room temperature standing time to allow solidification of the clot ?
a . 7 minutes . b . 15 minutes . c . 30 minutes . d . 45 minutes . e . 60 minutes . Question 2 . For which of the following laboratory analyses is blood collected into plain serum tubes not the recommended sample type ?
a . Clinical biochemistry tests . b . Endocrine assays . c . Antibody assays . d . Antigen detection assays . e . Mineral analysis .
Question 3 . Blood collected into yellow stopper serum separator blood tubes are not suitable for which of the following laboratory analyses ?
a . Clinical biochemistry tests . b . Antibody assays . c . Mineral analysis . d . Endocrine assays . e . Drug-monitoring .
Question 4 . Which of the following blood collection tubes are considered best suited for the transport of body fluid specimens destined for cytological analysis ?
a . Plane red stopper serum tube . b . Yellow stopper serum separator tube . c . Lavender stopper EDTA tube . d . Light blue stopper citrate tube . e . Green stopper heparin tube .
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