Does anyone have cord bloods collected into EDTA tubes rather than clot tubes? If you do, do they have trouble getting the cord sample into the tube?

Mary

Our L&D has always collected cords into EDTA and plain clot. We have always done our DAT's from the EDTA and though it often has clots there has been no adverse effect on our results. Since we have gone to EDTA for all our blood bank testing we thought there was no need for the clotted sample anymore but they do still draw it in case viral testing is determined to be needed later.

It seems to me that at the hospital I previously worked, they collected a clotted specimen and an EDTA sample also. The EDTA was used in hematology but we would occasionally borrow them for the DAT. I don't recall hearing of any difficulty getting the cord blood sample into the EDTA tube.

Our L&D collects our cord bloods in EDTA and we've never heard any complaints.

Thanks for your input everyone.

Mary

Our central supply department prepares kits for deliveries and autoclaves the kit. The EDTA tubes are plastic and melt in the autoclave. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Mary

I think our LDR staff uses a vacutainer-like setup for collecting cord blood through an unbilical vessel, eliminating the "dripping down the sides" and "milking the blood in" situation.

The setup is gas-sterilized, so the plastic tubes are OK. I hear it's expensive to do it this way. There was some talk of trying to irradiate the packs at one time ...