Prolonged tourniquet application may cause a false increase in which analyte?

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Pre-analytical handling and venous stasis from a tourniquet can bias lab results. Prolonged tourniquet time keeps blood in the vein longer, allowing ongoing tissue and cellular metabolism to alter the sample. Ammonia is particularly sensitive because it is produced and accumulates under these conditions and is not rapidly removed from the specimen, leading to a falsely elevated measurement. For ammonia testing, minimize tourniquet time, place the specimen on ice, and analyze promptly. Other analytes like chloride, ALT, and triglycerides are less affected by this specific pre-analytical variable, so their values don’t routinely show the same artifactual rise with extended tourniquet use.