Study on "Pre-analytical Errors in a Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory:" The Hidden Flaws in Total Testing

Abstract

Aim of the study: The aim and objective of the present study was, to enumerate and evaluate different types of preanalytical 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.