According to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and other accepted phlebotomy guidelines, the tourniquet should be removed as soon as blood flow is established, that is, once blood begins to fill the first tube or syringe.

Here we point out to the tourniquet application step, which we usually use less than a minute to constrict venous circulation, gaining better vein location and access.

The standard practice is to release the tourniquet as soon as blood begins flowing into the collection tube, and certainly within one minute for routine draws. If you need to re-palpate, release and reapply rather than leaving it cinched the entire time.

The general consensus is to remove it as soon as possible after successful vein cannulation. The tourniquet should not remain on the arm for more than 1 minute, as prolonged application can affect sample quality and patient comfort.

When multiple tubes of blood are collected, the tourniquet must be released before the final tube begins to fill. This strict one-minute time limit is a safety standard, regardless of how many tubes still need to be drawn.

We assessed phlebotomists' capability of not using the tourniquet in venous blood sampling, hypothesizing it to be equal to 50% of the patients attended, and identifying the most frequent...

New ways to deal with known preanalytical issues: use of transilluminator instead of tourniquet for easing vein access and eliminating stasis on clinical biochemistry.

We assessed phlebotomists’ capability of not using the tourniquet in venous blood sampling, hypothesizing it to be equal to 50% of the patients attended, and identifying the most frequent venipuncture site.

Here, we aim to assess Biomedical Scientists capability of not using the tourniquet in phlebotomy, which we hypothesised to be equal to 50% of the patients attended, and identifying the most frequent venipuncture site.

The aim of the present study was to define the optimal sampling time after tourniquet removal to avoid adverse impact on laboratory analytes.