Background: The type of blood collection tube affects specimen quality and laboratory results. Because plasma specimens have a shorter processing time compared to serum specimens, emergency biochemistry tests use plasma. However, serum specimens remain stable after centrifugation and show more accurate results than plasma. Therefore, a quick-clotting serum separator tube (SST) is expected to be useful for shorter turnaround times and accurate results. We evaluated a new quick-clotting SST VQ-Tube^TM (AB Medical, Korea) for clinical chemistry and thyroid hormone assays.

Methods: One hundred volunteers from four university hospitals were recruited and peripheral blood samples were collected in quick-clotting SST VQ-Tubes^TM and the commonly used SST V-Tubes^TM. The obtained specimens were used for 16 clinical chemistry assays and three thyroid hormone assays.

Results: The differences (%) in the test results obtained from the samples in each tube satisfied the allowable difference ranges (19 assays). The differences in the test results between the tubes satisfied the desired specifications for accuracy except for the glucose results (2.75%). The paired t-test revealed significant differences between the results of six assays but each set of results showed a good correlation. Samples were visually inspected for serum clarity and gel barrier integrity, and incomplete clotting reactions and hemolyzed serum were not observed.

Conclusion: The new quick-clotting VQ-Tube^TM demonstrated reliable test results compared to the commonly used SST V-Tube^TM. This quick-clotting tube will provide fast test results with adequately separated serum specimens, especially for patients who need fast tests.

背景：采血管的类型会影响标本质量和实验室结果。由于血浆标本比血清标本的处理时间短，因此紧急生化测试使用血浆。但是，离心后的血清标本仍保持稳定，并且显示出比血浆更准确的结果。因此，快速凝结的血清分离管（SST）有望用于更短的周转时间和准确的结果。我们评估了一种新的速凝SST VQ-Tube <sup> TM </ sup>（韩国AB Medical）用于临床化学和甲状腺激素测定。

方法：从四所大学医院招募一百名志愿者，并在速凝SST VQ-Tubes <sup> TM </ sup>和常用的SST V-Tubes <sup> TM </ sup>中收集外周血。获得的标本用于16种临床化学测定和3种甲状腺激素测定。

结果：从每个试管中的样品获得的测试结果的差异（％）满足允许的差异范围（19个测定）。试管之间的测试结果差异除葡萄糖结果（2.75％）外，均满足所需的准确度指标。配对t检验显示六种测定法的结果之间存在显着差异，但每组结果均显示出良好的相关性。目视检查样品的血清透明度和凝胶屏障完整性，并且未观察到不完全的凝结反应和溶血的血清。

结论：与常用的SST V-Tube <sup> TM </ sup>相比，新型快速凝结的VQ-Tube <sup> TM </ sup>显示出可靠的测试结果。这种快速凝结的试管将提供充分分离的血清标本的快速检测结果，特别是对于需要快速检测的患者。