Pre-Analytical And Post-Analytical Errors In The Clinical Laboratory: A Systematic Review

Abstract

In the present medical scenario, the detection of various diseases is largely dependent on tests performed in the medical Clinical Laboratory. That means a treatment procedure depends largely on the test results provided by the laboratories. There are three phases in any sample testing procedure. These are the pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical phases. As human intervention is indispensable, there remains a chance of human error at any phase of the above-mentioned three phases. Although the laboratories work skilfully and use modern tools and equipment, the testing processes are not full-proof. There remains a chance of misdiagnosis leading to wrongful treatment. Laboratories should be safe for patients and health services providers.

Clinical laboratories are focused on the quality of services they impart and quality testing methods to handle the analytical parts of the testing procedures as perfectly as possible. However, several studies and evidence accumulated in recent times have demonstrated that merely focusing on the accuracy of the diagnostic aspects cannot assure the quality and accuracy of laboratory testing results in clinical laboratories. In some more recent surveys on the same subject, it is revealed that mistakes occur more frequently in the pre-analytical and post-analytical phases. Mistakes are comparatively less in the analytical stage.