Why should serum separator tubes not be inverted?

Serum separator tubes are specifically designed to separate serum from blood cells after centrifugation. When these tubes are inverted, this action can lead to mixing of the serum with blood cells rather than allowing the components to separate appropriately. This mixing can cause hemolysis, disrupting the integrity of the sample and potentially skewing test results.

The proper handling of serum separator tubes involves letting them remain undisturbed to facilitate gravity separation of the serum, which is essential for accurate laboratory analysis. Thus, ensuring that these tubes are not inverted is critical for maintaining the quality of the serum specimen collected. This approach helps ensure that tests performed on the serum will yield reliable and consistent results.