Comparing The Wintrobe Method And The Wintergreen Method

Erythrocyte sedimentation Rate is defined as the rate at which the red blood cells. The purpose is to see the rate at which, well mixed, anticoagulated blood will settle at the bottom of the tube. ESR testing helps detect inflammation that is linked to infections, cancer and autoimmune diseases. This test is inexpensive, accurate and very easy to perform. There are two methods that are commonly used to preform ESR wintrobe method and the Wintergreen method. The wintrobe method uses a EDTA venous blood sample that is mixed well. Then the sample is transferred with a Pasture pipette to wintrobe. The sample must have no air bubbles, and is then placed into a vertical rack to let stand for no longer than 60 minutes. After that you read the number …show more content…
The next method is a blood mixed sample with about 3.8 % sodium citrate. Again it is very important to know the values of the Westergren method of ESR. There are two factors that have an influence in the sedimentation rate, the surface membrane of the red blood cell and the any changes in the level of fibrinogen in the plasma. When a person has a disease, the superficial part of the red blood cell is changes; there are also changes in the fibrinogen. Both of these instances affect the rate at which erythrocytes set in the tube www.mayoclinic.com . Even after the disease is no longer inside the body the disease will still show this change. This is one of the main reasons why erythrocyte sedimentation rate testing is good at diagnosing disease when it starts. Sedimentation takes place in four stages. The first stage is Rouleau formation; the sedimentation rate is very slight. The second stage the sedimentation start to occur fairly rapid. The majority of the setting of the blood takes place in this stage. The third stage the sedimentation is slower because the red blood cells have started to accumulate at the bottom of the tube, the packing off cells is