What does a routine blood test mainly check?

I believe everyone has had the experience of a physical examination. For example, when you are in school, you will have to take a physical examination arranged by the school. In addition, after entering the society, you must also take a physical examination according to the regulations when you join a new company. There are many examination items to be done during the physical examination, including the essential routine blood test. Many people may not know that a routine blood test actually includes many items, and usually checks the following contents.

What does a routine blood test mainly check?

A routine blood test is mainly to take a preliminary look at the blood cells, mainly to determine whether there is bacterial or viral infection, and also to see whether there is anemia. A routine urine test is mainly to see whether there is occult blood or protein in the urine, to determine whether there is a urinary tract infection or kidney disease. It can be used as a preliminary laboratory test.

A blood test is mainly to see if there is inflammation or anemia. It is recommended to clearly describe the current discomfort symptoms. Generally, hospitalized patients or patients with colds need to do a routine blood and urine test. According to the test results, symptomatic medication should be given in a timely manner according to the symptoms and signs.

A disease cannot be diagnosed solely through a routine blood test and needs to be combined with other tests and medical history. A routine blood test only includes blood cell differential counts and does not include hepatitis B tests. Item 1 of the two-pair-and-a-half hepatitis B test (HBsAg-hepatitis B virus surface antigen) is a sign of virus infection and does not reflect whether the virus has replicated, the degree of replication, or the strength of its infectiousness. The following major diseases can be detected through a routine blood test: leukemia, anemia, infection, infectious diseases, thrombocytopenia, allergic diseases, etc.

The blood routine examination method is very simple, but the conclusions it draws can have many different results depending on different cell parameters. Let’s take a look at the blood routine examination items.

There are four types of items in a routine blood test: red blood cell count, white blood cell count, platelet count, and hemoglobin measurement. Many parameters can be measured for each type of project. However, the specific parameter measured depends on the instrument used. There are certain differences in the parameters set between different blood routine testers.

The examination parameters of red blood cell count include: hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell body and distribution width, etc.

The examination parameters of white blood cell count include: lymphocyte count, intermediate cell count, neutrophil count, etc.

The examination parameters of platelet count include: platelet volume, mean platelet volume, platelet volume distribution width, etc.

The examination parameters of hemoglobin include: mean corpuscular hemoglobin content, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, etc.

Of course, the most common blood test consists of 16-18 items, and some also require three blood cell distribution histograms. Moreover, there is no time requirement for routine blood tests.