EDTA

Medical term Routine Blood Collections

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid: binds calcium to keep blood unclotted; the lavender-top additive for hematology, including the CBC.

Sources

• WHO Guidelines on Drawing Blood: Best Practices in Phlebotomy (2010); official WHO IRIS PDF, also published as NCBI Bookshelf NBK138650 · World Health Organization
• Ford RB, Mazzaferro EM. Laboratory Diagnosis and Test Protocols, Table 5-1 Venous Blood Collection Tube Guide (reproduced from the BD Vacutainer Tube Guide). In: Kirk & Bistner's Handbook of Veterinary Procedures and Emergency Treatment, 2012 · Elsevier (via PubMed Central)

Free practice questions that use EDTA

• Routine Blood Collections, question 5A physician office patient has orders for an aPTT (light blue-top) and a hemoglobin A1c (lavender-top). The phlebotomist uses a straight…
• Special Collections, question 2Blood is drawn by syringe for blood cultures and a lavender-top tube. Using a transfer device, which is filled first?
• Special Collections, question 6What do blood culture bottles contain?

Related terms

• additiveAnything put in a collection tube on purpose, such as an anticoagulant, clot activator, separator gel or…
• CBCComplete blood count: hematology panel giving the numbers of each blood cell type plus hemoglobin and…
• diaphoresisHeavy sweating. With pallor, nausea or dizziness during a draw, it can warn of a vasovagal reaction and…
• diastolic pressureThe second, lower blood pressure reading: arterial pressure between beats, while the ventricles rest and fill.
• discard tubePlain tube drawn first when a winged set is used and sodium citrate is the first tube, so tubing air does…
• dyspneaDifficult or labored breathing (shortness of breath). A patient who becomes short of breath during…
• erythemaRedness of the skin from increased blood flow. Unlike petechiae or a bruise, it fades (blanches) when pressed.
• erythrocyteRed blood cell: a disk-shaped cell without a nucleus that carries oxygen bound to hemoglobin.
• evacuated tubeA sealed tube with a preset vacuum that draws a set blood volume when its stopper is pierced by the back of…
• evacuated tube systemClosed system of a multisample safety needle, a tube holder and vacuum tubes. Needle and holder go into the…

Study Routine Blood Collections

• Free Routine Blood Collections practice questions
• All Routine Blood Collections terms
• Venous Order of Draw, Additives and Inversions
• Phlebotomy Abbreviations and the Do-Not-Use List
• Medical Word Parts for Phlebotomy