Gel tubes: a method of core-specimen retrieval and transport.

The utility of saving core biopsy specimens in sterile gel tubes was evaluated with 30 liver and 30 kidney core specimens obtained at open biopsy with an 18-gauge needle during autopsy. The core specimens were saved with one of three methods: gel tube, formalin swirl, or scalpel retrieval. The combined-organ mean time for the radiologist to save core specimens was not statistically significantly different with gel tubes (3.8 seconds) and the formalin-swirl method (4.5 seconds). Both of these methods, however, were significantly faster than the scalpel-retrieval method (11.2 seconds) (P < .001). The combined radiologist and cytotechnologist time was greatest with the gel tubes (35.1 seconds vs 14.7 and 21.2 seconds, respectively). Core specimens were broken with the formalin-swirl and scalpel-retrieval methods but not with the gel-tube method.