Evaluation of a pneumatic-tube system for delivery of blood specimens to the blood bank.

This study evaluated the suitability of delivering patient blood specimens to the blood bank by a hospital pneumatic-tube system. No significant discrepancies were found between duplicate pneumatic-tube and hand-carried specimens in ABO and Rh typing, Du and direct Coombs' testing, rouleaux formation, and antibody screening and identification. There were no significant differences in titers or scores of unexpected erythrocytic antibodies in duplicate pneumatic-tube and hand-carried specimens. No significant differences in antibody strength were detected between specimens from partially-filled and nearly full clot tubes delivered by pneumatic-tube. Our pneumatic-tube system may be safely used to transport patient blood specimens for routine type and crossmatch. Slight hemolysis in some pneumatic-tube specimens makes our pneumatic-tube system unsuitable for transporting blood specimens collected for evaluation of transfusion reactions.