How to make and stain a blood smear lecture
Karen V. Jackson · 2013
Blood smears are an essential component of a Complete Blood Count (CBC) as they can be used to confirm and complement analyzer data and evaluate for morphologic abnormalities that cannot be detected by analysers alone. CBCs are used clinically to investigate sick patients, chemotherapy patients, and often also as a part of an annual screening process. Haematology abnormalities most often evaluated include anaemia, inflammatory disease, leukaemias, and bleeding disorders. Blood smears are easy to perform particularly after a small amount of practice, which the registratants will receive in the practical session directly following the lecture. As blood smears are best made at the same time as the venipuncture to allow for the best cell morphologies, making blood smears in-house is recommended whether they will be looked at in-house or sent to the laboratory with the CBC sample. Blood smear techniques and tips for making the best quality blood smears will be covered in the lecture. Once the blood smear has been made it needs to be air-dried and stained. Methods for drying, fixing (if required), and staining will also be discussed in the lecture along with common mistakes that make blood smear evaluation more difficult than it needs to be.