The challenges associated with short volume sodium citrate blood samples

Abstract

In the laboratory, we often receive phone calls from our clinical colleagues with questions about decisions we have made that might affect their patient’s care. For example, enquiries about why we have rejected a sample or why we were unable to provide a particular result due to a pre-analytical or technical error. In this series of short articles, we want to try and address some of the most common questions we get asked, with the aim of educating the wider workforce in a way that is simple to understand, about the decisions we make in the laboratory. We hope that with a greater understanding, the number of avoidable errors might be reduced.In this article, we explore the pre-analytical challenges associated with short volume sodium citrate anti-coagulated blood samples and why these must be rejected.