Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: January-March | Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 24-32
Study of Pre-Analytical Errors in a Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory: The Hidden Flaws in Total Testing
Dr. Sushma Bhopalam Jagannatha, Dr. Shrikant Chandrakar
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Chandulal Chandrakar Medical College & Hospital, Kachandur, Durg, Chhattisgarh
Corresponding Author: Dr. Shrikant ChandrakarABSTRACT
Aim of the study: The aim and objective of the present study was, to enumerate and evaluate different types of pre-analytical errors in the clinical biochemistry laboratory and to compare the frequency of errors in the pre-analytical phase of testing before and after training, the technical staff posted in the clinical biochemistry laboratory.
Materials and Methods: A prospective Study was conducted at Dept. of Biochemistry, CIMS, Bilaspur. Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care hospital cum medical college in Bilaspur for the period of 4 months from August 2016 to December 2016. During this period, different types of pre-analytical errors were monitored.
Results: Of the 19,411 samples received during the study period, 670 samples were found to be unsuitable for testing, accounting for 3.45% of the rejection. All these samples were rejected due to different types of pre-analytical errors that are due to wrong identification (0.26%), missing samples (0.05%), draw from IV site (0.07%), inadequate samples (1.02%), wrong timing of sample collection (0.06%), hemolysed samples (1.83%) and lipemic samples (0.28%).
Conclusion: Of all the samples received in the clinical biochemistry laboratory, the overall percentage of rejection is 3.45%. We also found that, there was reduction in the frequency of errors before and after training the staff.
Key words: Pre-analytical errors, Hemolysis, Rejection, Frequency of Errors and Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory.