- Prepare a GTT chart for the patient on which to record collection times and test results.
- Collect a fasting venous blood sample into a bottle or tube containing fluoride-oxalate. Label the container ‘fasting blood’.
- Give the patient 75 g of glucose (D-glucose monohydrate) in 250–300 ml water, to be drunk in 5 to 15 minutes. To reduce nausea a few drops of lemon juice may be added to the water.
- Make a note of the time and enter on the GTT chart the time at which the next blood sample is to be collected, i.e. 2 hours after the glucose water has been drunk.
- Instruct the patient to rest quietly and not to eat, drink, exercise, smoke, or leave the hospital during the test.
- Inform the patient when the test will be completed.
- Important: If the patient should feel faint, very nauseated or begin to perspire excessively, call a medical officer.
- Collect the second blood sample at the correct time, labelling the container with the collection time.
- Measure the glucose concentration in each of the blood specimens.
- Enter the patient’s results on the GTT chart if the value of the control serum is acceptable.
S
See also:
G