Small blood count – treatment, effect & risks

Applications

Typical areas of application of the small blood count:

• Infection

• Inflammation
• Deficiencies

The small blood count is usually taken at each routine examination by the laboratory of the family doctor. Deviations in absolute numbers and deviating ratios of the individual values can indicate diseases such as inflammation or conditions such as deficiency symptoms. A special indication for a small blood count is the suspicion of diseases of the hematopoietic system or otherwise caused anemia.Diseases of the blood system can be excluded by means of the values in the small blood count. However, the result can also substantiate a corresponding suspicion and thus place the indication for further investigations. Disorders of the hematopoietic system are diverse. The composition of cellular blood count components always allows conclusions to be drawn about the patient’s health constitution and can also provide information on the state of health of individual organs. The small blood count is often the initial examination at the beginning of a diagnosis. The small blood count also plays a role in the field of prevention and early detection. The same applies to disease progression control.

What methods and procedures are there?

The small blood count is a blood test method compared to the differential blood count blood count and forms together with it the large blood count. Additional methods are used to determine the nature and structure of the whole blood. Basically, the small blood count is much less detailed than the large blood count and is not suitable for further diagnostics.

In addition to the small blood count, doctors have access to methods such as blood smear, serological blood analysis, blood culture, blood cell sedimentation rate and chemical blood analysis. In all methods, the blood sample is given to the laboratory after blood collection. The patient receives the result after three working days at the latest. The measurement methods differ from laboratory to laboratory for small blood counts. Accordingly, the blood values vary. Several blood tests are therefore better carried out in the same laboratory during a diagnosis. The values are determined in the small blood count with hematology devices after impedance change or flow cytometry.

What does the patient have to consider in advance and during aftercare?

In order to obtain a small blood count with consistent test results, the time of blood collection should ideally be between seven and nine in the morning. The patient does not necessarily have to be fasting for the small blood count. In the case of more extensive examinations, however, sobriety is desirable. This means that nothing is eaten after 8 p.m. the day before. After the blood has been taken, the test materials are analyzed in the laboratory as quickly as possible. Incorrect tube labeling is a common source of error. Although relatively little blood is taken for the small blood count, patients should still drink a lot to balance the body’s own budget. Enormous stress or physical exertion should also be avoided as far as possible on the day of blood collection.

Execution – How does the investigation work?

For a small blood count, the doctor only takes a small amount of blood from the patient. In most cases, the amount removed is not even 0.5 milliliters. Blood is taken while sitting or lying down. The arm vein is usually tied off for removal. The vein must be clearly palpable immediately before the blood is taken so that the doctor does not puncture himself and enough blood can be taken.

The patient’s blood is drawn into a syringe and filled into tubes. The individual tubes can have different colored stubble. These stubbles mark which additives they contain. Since the blood must not clot for some tests, the tubes contain Anticoagulant substances . In the small blood count, the anticoagulant is usually EDTA.

The blood draw does not take much longer than a minute. After the removal, the patient rests for a few minutes, depending on his constitution, and can go home again. The blood samples are analyzed in the laboratory. The timely analysis and correct storage of the blood samples is important. From a certain temperature and at a certain age, the blood samples lose their reliability. The creation of a small blood count can be done by the family doctor and therefore does not require inpatient admission to a hospital.

blood values

Self-service or health insurance – who bears the costs?

You don’t have to pay for the small blood count out of your own pocket. The routine blood analysis is covered by health insurance. This applies relatively independently of the established type of health insurance company. The prerequisite is, of course, that the doctor confirms the requirement for the small blood count to the health insurance company. If the analysis of the cellular blood components is carried out during an inpatient stay in hospital, the assumption of costs applies in the same way as for outpatient analyses. Nevertheless, many health insurance companies are now demanding a deductible of ten euros per day in the hospital. However, this deductible is a flat-rate sharing of costs that does not relate directly to individual examinations such as the small blood count. Patients with supplementary insurance do not have to pay a deductible.

Risks, complications and side effects

Although hardly any blood is taken for the small blood count, some patients suffer from symptoms such as nausea or dizziness immediately after the blood is taken. The symptoms usually subside after a day at the latest. Depending on the vein quality and the skill of the doctor taking the sample, a slightly painful hematoma may form at the puncture site.Some patients also find the puncture painful. However, the fear of having blood drawn is almost exclusively psychological. In earlier times, there was a risk of infection when taking blood. In the meantime, however, infections due to blood draws only occur in the rarest of cases.