Venipuncture Tests and Abbreviations

1. Venipunture TESTS and
ABBREVIATIONS
By:Tiffany Dragavon, CAS, LXMO, CPhT, MA
Allied Health Instructor

2. ●
NOTE TO PHLEBOTOMY CLASS
Okay ladies...it is time to go further into venipuncture and discuss test
abbreviations and tubes that are used. Settle down, go through the
powerpoint, then answer the questions that are assigned to you. Once
completed....please work on your phlebotomy skills, glucose checks, tb
skin test, and hematocrits. The last hour, please work on the xmas
door design.
NOTE: PLEASE STUDY for my RETURN....hopefully TUESDAY. We
will discuss MORE tests at that time. I know you will do awesome. Got
questions? Write me on ENGRADE...PUT YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES
ON AND LET'S DO THIS!...
P.S. I can see who is reading the slides :) so DO NOT skip reading
them...
For those that missed the notes on Thursday...YOU can take the test
TUESDAY. While OTHERs are taking...please review the notes on
ENGRADE. LeLe can show you where the notes are..

3. POCT
●
●
Point of Care Testing
Tests performed on patient with results
available right away. Glucose, urinalysis
and many of the tests phlebotomists
perform in the lab are POCT.

4. QNS
●
Quantity Not Sufficient
–
This is to be avoided at all costs!
–
QNS is you didn't draw enough blood
for the techs to test, you will have to
re-draw your patient, which could
involve having them return to the
clinic!

5. BC or B/C
●
Blood Culture
–
Blood cultures are run on patients that
are sick and we can't figure out why.
–
Two, three or more bottles of blood are
drawn and incubated to "amplify" the
BBP (blood-borne pathogen) that is
causing the problem in order to
identify it.
–
–
These are blood culture containers.
The are glass.

6. FUO
●
●
Fever of Unknown Origin
This is the condition that normally
indicates a blood culture (B/C). The
patient is at their most contagious, so
PPEs are a must! It is also a sterile
procedure, so it is always the first draw
in a series.)

7. TDM
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
(Measuring the levels of prescribed drugs
in the blood stream.
Usually for peak (maximum) and trough
[troff] (minimum) levels.
For peak levels: draw 30 MINUTES after
medication is given.
For trough levels: draw BEFORE new
dose of medication. IF YOU GIVE DOSE
WHEN THERE IS TOO MUCH DRUG
LEFT IN BLOOD....IT CAN BE TOXIC!

8. PP
●
Post Prandial (Latin for after a meal.)
–
If you see an order for bloodwork to be
drawn “PP”, then that means AFTER
MEALS.

9. GTT
●
●
Glucose Tolerance Test
Test to determine how well a body metabolizes
carbohydrates.
–
Drawn into gray top tubes.
Procedure
1)
A zero time (baseline) blood sample is drawn.
2) The patient is then given a measured dose (below) of glucose
solution to drink within a 5 minute time frame.
3)
Blood is drawn at intervals for measurement of glucose (blood
sugar), and sometimes insulin levels. We draw blood at 2, 4, and 6
hours after drinking the solution . Some hospitals require just a
baseline and the 2 hour test.

10. ETOH
●
Chemical abbreviation for ethanol, which
is to say blood alcohol.
–
The test is normally drawn into a red
top tube without using an alcohol
prep pad and tape is wrapped around
the tube to let the lab tech know it
should remain air tight.

11. PKU
●
Phenylketonuria
–
This is a condition that exists in some
newborns and can lead to
developmental delays if not detected
early.

12. ACD
●
Acid Citrate Dextrose
–
This is the additive in the yellow tube
that is sent to the Blood Bank
(immunohematology) for tissue
typing/matching.
–
The specimen type is Whole Blood
●
–
(you do not spin this tube down)
This is NOT the sterile tube used for
Blood Cultures

13. EDTA
●
EthyleneDiamineTetraacetic
Acid
–
This is the anticoagulant
in lavender top tubes,
which are tested by
Hematology (3 and
5ml tubes)
–
or the Blood Bank
(immunohematology,
7ml tubes).
–
The specimen type is
Whole Blood.

14. APTT
●
Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time
–
–
This is a test of the blood's ability to
coagulate. RE MEMBER:
THROMBOCYTES are CLOTTING
cells.
It is drawn into a light blue top tube
(draw a red PLAIN red top first to
discard alcohol and tissue) and sent
to Coagulation Department.

15. BT
●
●
●
Bleeding Time
A POCT (Point of Care Test) performed
to measure how long it takes for
bleeding to stop in a patient.
Do you remember what to pump the BP
cuff to?
–
ANSWER: 40mmHg

16. PT
●
●
Pro-Time (Prothrombin Time)
This is another test the measures the
blood's ability to clot.
REMEMBER.....CLOTS STICK
TOGETHER!

17. SST
●
●
●
Serum Separation
Tube
There are two types of
serum separation
tubes: Marble Red
and Gold (the SST
twins).
They have a clot
activator (for serum)
and gel (for
separation)

18. PPT
●
●
●
●
Plasma Separation Tube (Also called
PPT or Plasma Preparation Tube).
There are two types of plasma
separation tubes: Marble Green and
Mint (the PST twins).
They have an anticoagulant (Lithium
Hep, for plasma) and gel (for
separation).
REMEMBER TO SPIN DOWN! JUST
LIKE THE SST TUBE!

19. ABG
●
●
●
●
●
Arterial Blood Gases (This is a test that
measures the levels of gases
PCO2 (PULMONARY CARBON DIOXIDE)
PO2(PULMONARY OXYGEN) in addition to
pH(acid) in arterial blood.
WHAT DOES PULMONARY REFER TO?
CLUE: Pulmonary Artery
Phlebotomists do not collect arterial blood.

20. CBC-Complete Blood Count
This is a "panel test”, which consists of seven individual sub-tests:
1.RBC- red blood cells
2.WBC- white blood cells
3. Plt- platelets
4. Hgb- Hemoglobin- iron-containing oxygen-transport
protein in the red blood cell
5. Hct- Hematocrit- percentage (%) of red blood cells in
blood
6.Diff -Differential- shows individual granulytes and
agranulytes, how RBCs look, shape, and size. WE WILL DISCUSS
LATER
7. ESR-erythrocyte sedimentation rate -
It is a test
that indirectly measures how much inflammation is in the body.

21. CHOLESTEROL TESTS:
●
●
●
CHOL-Cholesterol (fat in
blood)
HDL -High-Density
Lipoprotein ("good"
cholesterol)
LDL -Low-Density
Lipoprotein ("bad"
cholesterol)
THESE ARE DRAWN IN
AN SST TUBE

22. ABO Bloodtyping
●
●
●
●
●
Determines if you have A, B, AB, or O blood
KENDRA...PLEASE SHOW YOUR POSTER AND
EXPLAIN TO THE CLASS.
THE “R” on these slides represent “Rh”
-Rh stands for rhesus factor.
This determines if your blood is POSITIVE or
NEGATIVE.
●
●
●
JUST LIKE THE A and B slides, if the blood CLUMPS
on the “R” section, then blood is POSITIVE. If it does
not ….it is NEGATIVE!

23. ●
Creatine Kinase
–
CK
IF FOUND marks heart attack, severe
muscle breakdown, muscular
dystrophy and acute renal (KIDNEY)
failure.)