OBJECTIVE: Errors in clinical laboratories have a great impact on safety and care of patients. The pre-analytical phase is responsible for about 70% of errors. Hence, the objective was to determine what types of pre-analytical errors for improvements at this stage, and contribute data to the literature. DESIGN AND METHODS: Every three months during the study, the rejected blood samples were assessed for type of pre-analytical error and home care. RESULTS: 77,051 blood samples were collected in the search period, whereof 441 (0.57%) were rejected by some type of pre-analytical error and therefore had to be recollected. Clot was found to be the major cause of rejection of samples, 43.8%, followed by insufficient sample volume, 24%. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the most frequent causes of pre-analytical errors and rejection of samples corroborate those found in the literature.
OBJECTIVE: Errors in clinical laboratories have a great impact on safety and care of patients. The pre-analytical phase is responsible for about 70% of errors. Hence, the objective was to determine what types of pre-analytical errors for improvements at this stage, and contribute data to the literature. DESIGN AND METHODS: Every three months during the study, the rejected blood samples were assessed for type of pre-analytical error and home care. RESULTS: 77,051 blood samples were collected in the search period, whereof 441 (0.57%) were rejected by some type of pre-analytical error and therefore had to be recollected. Clot was found to be the major cause of rejection of samples, 43.8%, followed by insufficient sample volume, 24%. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the most frequent causes of pre-analytical errors and rejection of samples corroborate those found in the literature.