Blood Collection Tube Top Colors

Click on the stopper to get additional information

	Light Blue top
	Red top tube - Serology and Immunohematology
	Red top tube - Chemistry
	Light Green top or Green top
	Lavender top
	Pink top tube (Blood Bank EDTA)
	Gray top
	Yellow top tube (ACD solution A) or (ACD solution B)
	Royal Blue top; serum, no additive or sodium heparin
	White top

Order of the Draw

To prevent contamination of tubes with additives from other tubes it is important to draw the tubes in a SPECIFIC order called "the order of the draw". For example, if the additive in the purple stopper tube contaminates the green stopper tube this would cause a falseley decreased calcium and increased potassium. Please, JUST DO IT. The sequence of collection of evacuated tubes in a multi-draw should be in this order:

1. Sterile/Blood cultures (yellow stopper or bottles, most institutions use bottles)

2. Light Blue coagulation tube -NOTE: If coagulation tests only are ordered AND you are using a butterfly, draw a discard tube to collect the air in the tubing into the discard tube. Failure to do so will result in a short draw which will be rejected by the lab.

3. Red - Non-Additive - has clot activator

4. Red Gel separator tube (speckled or “tiger” top or gold)

5. Green (heparin)

6. Green/Gray mottled Plasma Separator Tube (PST) with heparin

7. Lavender/purple and/or pink (EDTA)

8. Gray top (Potassium Oxalate/sodium fluoride tube)

http://www.pathology.med.umich.edu/bloodbank/faqs.html - has the following picture. Visit their website as it has some other nice pictures and explanations.

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The picture below is accurate EXCEPT for the royal blue tube. Since it has a red label it would follow the light blue coagulation tube. If the royal blue tube is glass the picture may be illustrating the use of a discard tube if a butterfly was used as there is a significant amount of air in the tubing which will result in a short draw in the light blue stopper tube.