Study of Preanalytical errors in hematology laboratory of a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Laboratories play an important role in the diagnosis and management of the disease. Errors are part and parcel of human nature. Its human tendency to make errors. Automation in laboratories has reduced the number of errors but still few errors do occur. Present study was undertaken to evaluate different types & frequencies of pre-analytical errors in hematology laboratory of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: Present study is a prospective study. All the samples received in hematology laboratory of our hospital over a period of one year (July2015-June2016) were included in the study. All the Preanalytical variables such as clotted samples, quantity not sufficient, wrong sample, sample without label, wrong label were noted & studied. Results: In the present study total 1, 21,470 samples were received in hematological laboratory over a period of one year. Preanalytical errors were noted in 1,218 samples. Clotted sample was noted in 573 cases, inadequate quantity in 213 cases, hemolyzed sample in 176 cases, improper requisition form in 114 cases, improper container in 92 cases & diluted sample in 50 cases. Conclusion: Regular check on the complete process in laboratory along with training of staff can help in reducing the Preanalytical errors in hematological laboratory. Educating the staff about the source of errors and measures to reduce them can be of great help in proper functioning of the laboratories.

Risk assessment of pre-analytical errors and their impact on patient safety in a tertiary care centre in South India

“…This is the only study which included samples from Hematology, Biochemistry and Microbiology. Other studies conducted by Shashi Upreti et al, Shukla et al, Narang et al and Pavani B [4][5][6][7][8] No study showed pre-analytical errors of urine samples. Our study more or less correlates with the above studies.…”

“…Studies conducted by Shukla et al, Narang et al and Sumera Naz et al showed the most common cause of pre-analytical error was clotted sample, whereas study conducted by Pavani B et al showed the most common cause of pre-analytical error was mismatch sample. [4][5][6][7][8] This is because the nursing staff didn't draw enough volume of blood and few samples were hemolysed on transportation.…”