Choosing the Ideal Blood Collection Tubes for PRP

Healthcare

Nov 28

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is a medical treatment that uses a concentration of a patient's own platelets to help improve the recovery in patients with cosmetic issues or musculoskeletal injuries. Recently, it has gained popularity due to its minimally invasive nature and its widening applications across various medical fields with promising efficacy.

In this article, we will explain everything there is to know about blood collection tubes for PRP, including the different types, their unique features, and the important factors to consider when choosing the best PRP tubes for your practice.

What are PRP Tubes?

PRP tubes are specialized blood collection tubes designed specifically for the extraction and preparation of platelet-rich plasma. These tubes are engineered to ensure the efficient separation of platelets from other blood components, resulting in a highly concentrated and pure PRP solution that can be used for various regenerative and therapeutic applications.

Types of Blood Collection Tubes Typically Used in PRP

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy involves collecting and concentrating a patient's own blood to bring out the desired outcomes for a patient's well-being. The blood collection tubes used for PRP play an important role in ensuring the success of this process. Here are the types of blood collection tubes typically used in PRP:

ACD+Gel+HA PRP Tube

These tubes contain a combination of anticoagulant (acid-citrate-dextrose or ACD), a separation gel, and hyaluronic acid (HA). The ACD helps prevent the blood from clotting, the separation gel facilitates the efficient separation of platelets from other blood components, and the HA enhances the viscosity and stability of the final PRP solution.

Clot Activator Coagulant Tube

Clot activator tubes are designed to promote the formation of a fibrin clot, which can be used to create a PRP-rich fibrin matrix. These tubes contain a clot activator, such as silica or thrombin, which triggers the coagulation cascade and the subsequent formation of the fibrin clot.

Greiner Bio-One Vacuette Tube

The Greiner Bio-One Vacuette tube is a popular choice for PRP preparation due to its ability to produce a high-quality, platelet-rich plasma. These tubes utilize a specialized gel separator that effectively isolates the platelets from the other blood components, ensuring a concentrated and pure PRP solution.

Monovette Serum Tube

Monovette serum tubes are often used in PRP preparation due to their ability to generate high-quality serum. The serum can then be combined with the platelet-rich fraction to create a PRP-based treatment solution.

Why is It Important to Choose the Best PRP Tube?

A study by Greetha, et al. (2017) demonstrated that platelet yield directly affected patient recovery when transfused. The same thing can be said in patients undergoing PRP treatment, where the healing properties of platelets were utilized.

As such, selecting the right blood collection tube for PRP is crucial as it can significantly impact the therapeutic outcomes of the treatment, as they can potentially affect the following aspects:

Minimizes Contamination

Proper tube selection helps minimize the risk of contamination by ensuring the efficient separation of platelets from other blood components, such as red blood cells and white blood cells.

Ensures More Effective Separation of Platelets

The tube's design and the presence of specialized additives, such as separation gels, can enhance the separation of platelets from other blood products, resulting in a highly concentrated PRP solution.

Helps Speed Up the Process of PRP Extraction

As mentioned, optimized PRP tubes allow for more effective separation of platelets from other blood components. This eliminates the need for more complex extraction techniques and prolonged differential centrifugation, thus helping speed up the extraction process.

A faster PRP extraction process brought by optimized PRP tubes also makes the process more efficient and time-saving for healthcare professionals, in addition to contributing to a high-yield PRP solution.

Tips On Choosing the Best PRP Tube

As mentioned, using a proper PRP tube is important in ensuring that the ideal outcome may be achieved after PRP treatment. This then emphasizes the need to choose and buy the best PRP tube, facilitated by keeping these tips in mind:

Go for Reputable Sellers

When buying PRP tubes, make sure to choose PRP tubes from reputable manufacturers or distributors with a proven track record of quality and reliability.

This is because reputable sellers of PRP (platelet-rich plasma) tubes are known to adhere to high standards of quality control and assurance, ensuring that the products they offer are reliable and effective.

Consequently, choosing reputable sellers also ensures your patient's safety and protects you from possible lawsuits. The use of substandard or faulty tubes can compromise the integrity of the PRP preparation, potentially harming the patient or resulting in unsatisfactory treatment outcomes.

Check for FDA Approval

FDA approval must always be checked prior to buying the PRP tube, as it ensures that the PRP tubes meet safety and quality standards set by the regulatory authority. This also helps avoid misleading claims and overuse of PRP in adherence to the regulatory oversight from the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).

Look for PRP Tubes that Allow Customization

Different medical procedures may require varying platelet concentrations. Customizable PRP tubes allow healthcare professionals to adjust the platelet concentration according to the specific needs of the patient or the procedure.

Similarly, the ability to customize PRP tubes ensures that they can be used across a wide range of medical specialties, such as orthopedics, dermatology, and cosmetic surgery, allowing for versatile applications.

High-Quality PRP Tubes from VitaPlasma Solutions

Choosing the right blood collection tubes for PRP is a critical decision that can significantly impact the quality and effectiveness of your PRP treatments. By understanding the different types of PRP tubes and the factors to consider, you can make an informed choice that will help you deliver the best possible outcomes for your patients.

At VitaPlasma Solutions, we pride ourselves on being one of the leading suppliers of high-quality PRP collection tubes and other PRP supplies for use in platelet-rich plasma therapy. So, if you're looking to incorporate PRP therapy into your practice, be sure to explore our selection of FDA-approved PRP tubes that are designed to optimize the quality and yield of your PRP solutions.

Note: For illustrative purposes only. VitaPlasma Solutions is a made-up brand name for a distributor of regenerative products, with focus on platelet-rich plasma materials like centrifuge and PRP tubes.

References

Dhurat R, Sukesh M. Principles and Methods of Preparation of Platelet-Rich Plasma: A Review and Author's Perspective. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2014 Oct-Dec;7(4):189-97. doi: 10.4103/0974-2077.150734. PMID: 25722595; PMCID: PMC4338460.
Geetha, Pavani, Korti, Jayashankar, & Deshpande. (2017). Factors affecting platelet yield in single donor plateletpheresis: a single institution experience. Indian Journal of Pathology and Oncology, 4(1), 23–26. https://doi.org/10.18231/2394-6792.2017.0005
Pretorius J, Habash M, Ghobrial B, Alnajjar R, Ellanti P. Current Status and Advancements in Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy. Cureus. 2023 Oct 17;15(10):e47176. doi: 10.7759/cureus.47176. PMID: 38021947; PMCID: PMC10652151.

Cam Adajar

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