Evaluation of different sized blood sampling tubes for thromboelastometry, platelet function, and platelet count.

Background: To minimise the volume of blood used for diagnostic procedures, especially in children, we investigated whether the size of sample tubes affected whole blood coagulation analyses.

Methods: We included 20 healthy individuals for rotational thromboelastometry (RoTEM®) analyses and compared three blood sampling tubes of different size: 1.8, 2.