Recommendations for patients performing analysis at the biochemical laboratory

In modern laboratories, distinctive equipment of specially closed vacuum systems- vacutainers (Vacuum-Container) is used for blood draw. The trained medical staff, in whose hands should feel safe, takes the analysis samples.

The procedure consists of three parts:
– Venepuncture, wherein the medical laboratory technician inserts the needle through the skin to the vein,
– Taking of blood, wherein through the needle the blood flows from the closed system of vessels to the test tube with vacuum and all the necessary test tubes are filled with blood, and
– Procedure of venous pressure, the vein is pressed with cotton ball and a bandage in order to stop the bleeding.
The venepuncture is mostly done on the inside of the elbow where the vein is the most available. The venepuncture site is bound with an Esmarch’s bandage or a rubber bandage so that the vein could become visible. Once you put your hand in a fist, without pumping the hand, the vein becomes even more swollen.
The procedure of taking blood usually takes about 2-3 minutes. Then, the puncture site must be pressed in order to speed up the procedure of stopping the bleeding and to avoid the creation of a bruise.
Does it hurt?
ВYou might feel a little pain when the needle passes through your skin. You may feel additional discomfort when the test tube starts to fill. If this is causing you discomfort, please inform the medical laboratory technician, as it would help the whole procedure and you could be more comfortable.
Useful tips
If you have deep-set and visible veins, you should consult your doctor and drink 8-10 glasses of water the day before the scheduled appointment for taking of blood. This will facilitate the procedure of extracting blood. Just before the blood taking process you need to do some exercises with your arms and palm. If you have dry skin, it is advisable to put moisturizer on your arms which would soften the skin and facilitate the procedure.
If you are feeling nervous and dizzy, you must inform the medical laboratory technician before the procedure initiation. The blood taking process can be performed while lying relaxed in our special chair or it could be delayed for a short time until the discomfort passes. If you are taking medication such as Heparin, Varfarin, Coumadin to regulate your blood coagulation, you should initially inform the medical practitioner who takes blood. After the procedure of taking blood is complete, the medical practitioner shall monitor the condition of the venepuncture site to check if the bleeding has stopped. You can leave the room after all this has finished.
If you have a bruise on the puncture site, you should put heparin cream or gel on the site for two consecutive days, three times a day.

The cup for collecting urine must be sterile and made of inert plastic. It would be best to take the cup from our laboratory. You should collect the first morning urine for routine urine analysis as soon as you get out of bed, before breakfast and drinking coffee or other activities. This sample is collected after 8 hours of rest during the night, while the urine was retained in the bladder. You should collect the midstream of urine without any interruptions, while putting the cup under the urine flow.

You should not eat lots of meat or dairy products two days prior to collecting the 24-hour urine and you should drink sufficient amounts of fluids. We recommend you to collect the urine in a special container of 2 liters that we can provide in our laboratory. During the collection, you should keep the lid closed and keep the cup in a cool place. Try to do all of this when you can stay at home the whole day, for example on Sunday.
Collection manner
First day – collection initiation.
Throw the first morning urine, do not collect it. Register the time when you did this, for example 07:00 in the morning. Collect any subsequent portions of urine into the cup, even if you get up at night to urinate.
Second day – end of collection.
Collect the first morning portion in the cup. It is desirable to do so in the same time you started urinating the day before, for example at 07:00. The correct collection of the 24-hour sample ends with this urine sample.
Bring the urine cup in the laboratory as soon as possible. In order to determine specific analytes, the urine must be collected with a suitable preservative. You can get more information about this from the laboratory, where we will give you precise instructions and suitable preservative as needed.

The test is used to detect gestational diabetes and is performed from the 24th to the 28th gestation week, since it occurs most often during this period.
Before the testing, which can be performed throughout the whole day (not necessarily in the morning), you can eat and drink normally.
Test procedure:
The test starts by measuring the glucose from the tip of finger i.e. in the capillary blood.
ПAfter this, you should drink an oligosaccharides solution (250-300 ml of water and 50 grams of glucose).
During the testing you have to sit idle, not to eat food or drink fluids since the activity of the basal metabolism is measured.
Repeated measurements are performed 60 minutes after drinking the solution.
After this, you can proceed with your daily activities.

Glucose tolerance oral test (functional assay)
The OGTT is required for detecting and proving of impaired glucose tolerance.
Manner of patient preparation:
Before the testing, you should eat normal amounts of carbohydrates i.e. mixed food within 3 days, comprising of more than 150 grams of carbohydrates per day, until the night before performing the test. Before the test initiation you must be hungry for 12 hours.
You mustn’t take any medications that affect the glucose metabolism 3 days before the test.
Test procedure:
You need to bring the first morning urine that must be checked for presence of glucose and ketones. A positive test is a contraindication for OGTT. In this case we consult with Dr. Internist – Endocrinologist for further testing preparation.
The test has to start at 08:00 in the morning by measuring the glucose on an empty stomach in capillary blood. Then you need to drink the oligosaccharides solution (250-300 ml water and an adequate amount of glucose) according to the referral of the doctor who requested the test. 50 grams is tested in pregnant women and 75 grams of glucose is tested in non-pregnant women and healthy adults. Children are measured according to a table, in compliance with the body weight.
During the testing, you must sit idle and not eat food or drink fluids since the activity of the basal metabolism is measured.
Repeated measurements are performed 60 and 120 minutes after drinking the solution, or longer, in specific cases, according to the doctor’s referral.