What is the difference between the Glass and PET Blood Collection Tubes?

Blood collection tubes made from PET , one kind of plastic are beginning to replace glass tubes.

The main difference  is Glass blood collection tubes the heat resistance is better than PET tubes ,but easier broken than PET tubes during transporation . 

To compare the effects of the blood collection tube material on 22 coagulation assays performed in clinical laboratories.

Paired blood samples from 28 healthy volunteers were drawn into BD Vacutainer Glass Citrate Tubes and BD Vacutainer Plus Plastic Citrate Tubes,

and the results of coagulation assays were determined in parallel.No statistically significant differences were observed between glass and plastic for 14 assays:

prothrombin time (and international normalized ratio); activated partial thromboplastin time; activated protein C resistance; antithrombin activity; factors II, V, VIII, and IX;

α2-antiplasmin; plasminogen activity; von Willebrand factor antigen;ristocetin cofactor; thrombin time; and reptilase time.

Statistically significant differences were found for fibrinogen;chromogenic protein C activity; protein S activity;PTT-LA lupus anticoagulant–sensitive

activated partial thromboplastin time; and factors VII, X, XI, and XII.Mean differences ranged from 0.4% to 5.5% and were unlikely to be of clinical significance.

The results of this study suggest that plastic tubes can be used in place of glass tubes for a wide variety of coagulation assays.

Like all laboratory tests, coagulation assays can be affected by a large variety of preanalytic variables, including the material used to manufacture the blood collection tube.

Historically, tubes made of glass have been used to collect blood samples. Since the coagulation cascade can be activated by contact of blood with glass surfaces,

these tubes are siliconized to prevent glass-induced coagulation activation.Recently, blood collection tubes made of a variety of plastic materials have started to

replace glass tubes in many laboratories. Plastic tubes have increased shock resistance and tolerance of higher centrifugation speeds than glass tubes,

providing improved safety for laboratory employees. The reduced solid waste after incineration of plastic tubes addresses environmental concerns,

and the slight flexibility of plastic tubes makes them better suited for use in an automated laboratory with robotics-based sample handling.

In spite of the increasing use of plastic tubes for coagulation testing, and in spite of the well-known ability of certain tube materials to activate the coagulation cascade more

than other materials, there are only a limited number of independent reports in the peer-reviewed literature comparing the effects of plastic versus glass collection tubes

on routine and esoteric coagulation tests.The scietists  therefore performed a comprehensive study of the effects of glass versus plastic blood collection tubes

on the results of 22 coagulation assays. The  study encompassed routine, high-volume tests performed in many laboratories offering standard testing menus,

as well as more esoteric tests generally limited to specialized coagulation laboratories.