Glass Capillary Tubes Pose Risk to Health Care Workers

Glass Capillary Tubes Pose Risk to Health Care Workers

FDA Bulletin - June 22, 1993
Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration

FDA recommends that health professionals consider using safer alternatives to glass capillary tubes, devices used for collecting small quantities of blood. The slender, fragile tubes may break when they are sealed with putty or may shatter during centrifugation.1

If they do break, health professionals are at risk of injury and infection from blood-borne pathogens, including HIV. In one case, a tube broke when it was manually being sealed with putty, resulting in the transmission of HIV to a physician.2

Safer blood collecting devices include products that are not made of glass, or are made of glass coated with a shatter- resistant film. Another product uses a method of sealing that does not require manually pushing one end of the tube into putty to form a plug. Still other devices allow the blood hematocrit to be measured without using centrifugation.

REFERENCES

1. Jagger J, Hunt EH, Pearson RD: Sharp object injuries in the hospital: causes and strategies for prevention. Am J Infect Control 18:227-231, 1990.

2. Aoun H: When a house officer gets AIDS. N Engl J Med 321:693-696, 1989.

Keywords: Health care services personnel. Accidents or injuries.
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CDC93168

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeard in 1993. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1993. AEGIS.