Effects of a Pneumatic Tube System on Routine and Novel Hematology and Coagulation Parameters in Healthy Volunteers

Abstract

Technologic advances affecting analyzers used in clinical laboratories have changed the methods used to obtain many laboratory measurements, and many novel parameters are now available. The effects of specimen transport through a pneumatic tube system on laboratory results obtained with such modern instruments are unclear. To determine the effects of sample transport through a pneumatic tube system on routine and novel hematology and coagulation parameters obtained on state-of-the-art analyzers. Paired blood samples from 33 healthy volunteers were either hand delivered to the clinical laboratory or transported through a pneumatic tube system. No statistically significant differences were observed for routine complete blood cell count and white cell differential parameters or markers of platelet activation, such as the mean platelet component, or of red cell fragmentation. When 2 donors who reported aspirin intake were excluded from the analysis, there was a statistically, but not clinically, significant impact of transport through the pneumatic tube system on the mean platelet component. There were no statistically significant differences for prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, waveform slopes for prothrombin time or activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, or fibrin monomers. Although further study regarding the mean platelet component may be required, transport through a pneumatic tube system has no clinically significant effect on hematology and coagulation results obtained with certain modern instruments in blood samples from healthy volunteers.