We love our lactates and want to protect them from every slip and fall. But are they a bit more resilient than we think?
Jones et al. concluded that point-of-care venous lactate in healthy patients does not significantly change over a course of 15 minutes either at -1˚ C or 23˚ C (room temperature) as well as with or without a tourniquet.
– Prospective randomized trial of 63 healthy patients divided into 3 groups
– Group 1: venous lactate drawn without tourniquet and placed on ice (-1˚ C)
- Over 15 minutes, lactate increased 10%
– Group 2: venous lactate drawn without tourniquet and left in room air (23˚ C)
- Over 15 minutes, lactate increased 25%
– Group 3: venous lactate drawn with a tourniquet placed 5 minutes before
venipuncture and placed on ice
- Over 15 minutes, lactate increased 6%
– No significant differences in mean lactate concentrations were found among any group (p>0.90)
Jones AE, Leonard MM, Hernandez-Nino J, Kline JA. Determination of the effect of in vitro time, temperature, and tourniquet use on whole blood venous point-of-care lactate concentrations. Acad Emerg Med. 2007 Jul;14(7):587-91. Epub 2007 May 18