Alright, you did it. LP complete! You look at those crystal clear tubes, and say to yourself…. “Ohhh yeah, champagne tap!”
But then…you realize you ordered 9000 tests on these few drops of precious fluid and have no idea how to correctly ship them off to the lab.
First, you ask around. No one seems to be 100% certain…”well, I know the cell count definitely goes on #1, but I’m not sure about the rest”.
Ugh.
Okay so here’s what you do, according to the ever-so-helpful “4-Labs”.
TUBE 1: cell count
TUBE 2: any chemistries (glucose, protein, chloride)
TUBE 3: any micro (Gram stain, cultures, viral studies, etc.)
TUBE 4: cell count #2 (if needed), and “any weird stuff” –Sam Khan
When you print out the labs, look closely and you’ll see (#1, #2, #3, #4). Slap those on.
Then, make sure the lids are screwed EXTRA tight. If there’s any spillage en route to the lab, they won’t run your samples. Put your tubes in the bag, and slip all the extra labels in. Drop off at the BA desk and give yourself a high five!
If you’re ever in a jam, just put in the “Lumbar Puncture Order Set” and you’ll get something that looks like this….
And if you click “Lumbar Puncture Post-Procedure” order set, you’ll get all these tests that we typically want to run.
Source: 4-Labs & Epic Order Sets
