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Vacutainer color coding system
Tube top color Coagulants (y/n)
or Anti-coaglulant (anti)
Additives
(y/n)
Usage notes
Gold or
Red/Black (Tiger)
Y Y Serum separation gel
Red plastic Y Y Not for blood banking, used when serum is needed.
Orange or
Grey/Yellow (Tiger)
Y Y Use thrombin for rapid coagulation. Used for STAT serum testing
Green anti Y Sodium- or Lithium- Heparin for plasma
Light green or
Green/Grey (Tiger)
anti Y Plasma chemistry
Purple or
Lavender
anti Y Contains potassium EDTA, a strong anticoagulant.These tubes are usually used for full blood counts (CBC) and blood films. Lavender top tubes are generally used when whole blood is needed for analysis. Can also be used for blood banking.
Grey anti Y Contain fluoride and oxalate. Fluoride prevents enzymes in the blood from working, so a substrate such as glucose will not be gradually used up during storage. Oxalate is an anticoagulant.
Light blue anti Y Contain a measured amount of citrate. Citrate is a reversible anticoagulant, and these tubes are used for coagulation assays. Because the liquid citrate dilutes the blood, it is important the tube is full so the dilution is properly accounted for.
Dark blue anti Y Contains sodium heparin, an anticoagulant. Also can contain EDTA as an additive or have no additive. These tubes are used for trace metal analysis.
Pink anti Y Similar to purple tubes (both contain EDTA) these are used for blood bank purposes.
Red glass N N Contains no additives. Tests for antibodies and drugs often require these.
Light yellow N N Used in HLA phenotyping. Also contains sodium polyanethol sulfonate (SPS), which is used for blood culture specimens or acid citrate dextrose (ACD), used for blood bank studies, HLA Phenotyping, and paternity testing
Tan
glass or plastic
N Y Used for lead determinations. The tube contains either sodium heparin (glass) or K2EDTA (plastic). These tubes are certified to contain no lead.
References: