title: [Hemolysis in blood samples. Assessment in 3 extraction systems].
abstract: Blood extraction by means of a vacuum system is a technique which has been employed in our field for some time, although this method does not receive all the popularity it should. This method offers something which the classical syringe can not: greater security. Proper blood extraction leads to a decrease in problems/errors which are susceptible to appear during the pre-analysis period. The use of a system which combine the characteristics of a vacuum with those of classical syringes, such as the Holdex de Vacuette (Bio Greiner, Madrid, España-H) can help to change this negative tendency. However, the special characteristics of this system (bendable to adapt to the site of a phlebotomy with the tube used to extract a blood sample) could cause an increase in the hemolysis in samples due to theoretically greater difficulty blood flow has in this circuit in comparison with other usual procedures in our filed (syringe and vacuum system. To test this assumption, 512 patients who had been asked to undergo a routine biochemical analysis were randomly chosen. These patients were divided into 3 groups, one for each extraction method used; 171 used Holdex de Vacuette(H), 168 used Vacutainer (V), and 173 used a syringe(J). The presence of hemolysis in these tubes was tested and the number of cases was compared to those detected among all the samples carried out during the study period. No statistically significant differences were discovered either among the 3 extraction systems used (H 2.1 or 16%, V 2.1 or 15%, J 4.2 or 23%) nor with the all samples analyzed (39, 2.02% total; 8, 1.56% study group, p < 0.001). These results let us conclude that the number of cases of hemolysis which occur when using Holdex is not greater than the number which occur when using other extraction systems and this method can be a good alternative to the conventional vacuum system.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Hematología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga.
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romero Ruiz
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tronchoni de los Llanos
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez Negrete
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D014618:Vacuum