Document Detail


Haemolysis: an overview of the leading cause of unsuitable specimens in clinical laboratories.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  18601596     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Prevention of medical errors is a major goal of healthcare, though healthcare workers themselves have not yet fully accepted or implemented reliable models of system error, and neither has the public. While there is widespread perception that most medical errors arise from an inappropriate or delayed clinical management, the issue of laboratory errors is receiving a great deal of attention due to their impact on the quality and efficiency of laboratory performances and patient safety. Haemolytic specimens are a frequent occurrence in clinical laboratories, and prevalence can be as high as 3.3% of all of the routine samples, accounting for up to 40%-70% of all unsuitable specimens identified, nearly five times higher than other causes, such as insufficient, incorrect and clotted samples. This article focuses on this challenging issue, providing an overview on prevalence and leading causes of in vivo and in vitro haemolysis, and tentative guidelines on identification and management of haemolytic samples in clinical laboratories. This strategy includes continuous education of healthcare personnel, systematic detection/quantification of haemolysis in any sample, immediate clinicians warning on the probability of in vivo haemolysis, registration of non-conformity, completing of tests unaffected by haemolysis and request of a second specimen for those potentially affected.
Authors:
Giuseppe Lippi; Norbert Blanckaert; Pierangelo Bonini; Sol Green; Steve Kitchen; Vladimir Palicka; Anne J Vassault; Mario Plebani
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Review    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine : CCLM / FESCC     Volume:  46     ISSN:  1434-6621     ISO Abbreviation:  Clin. Chem. Lab. Med.     Publication Date:  2008  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2008-07-08     Completed Date:  2008-09-04     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9806306     Medline TA:  Clin Chem Lab Med     Country:  Germany    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  764-72     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. ulippi@tin.it
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Blood Chemical Analysis*
Blood Specimen Collection*
Blood Substitutes
Hemolysis*
Humans
Laboratories, Hospital
Medical Errors
Specimen Handling*
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Blood Substitutes

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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