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Articles and journal scans about Preanalytical phase
Journal Scan
October 2007
A study of error rates in laboratory medicine
As with any aspect of healthcare, laboratory testing is prone to errors that may have a negative impact on outcome for patients. The focus for laboratory management in this regard has not unnaturally been the analytical process with great emphasis placed on the value of internal and external quality control programs...
Preanalytical phase
Journal Scan
October 2007
Is venous blood a suitable alternative to arterial blood for blood gas analysis?
Arterial blood is the standard sample for blood gas analysis but arterial blood sampling is more painful and hazardous to the patient. Such is the relative convenience and safety of sampling venous blood that several studies have sought to investigate the validity of its use as a substitute for arterial blood.
The...
Blood gases/acid-base
Preanalytical phase
Article
September 2007
Automating blood gas improves preanalytical quality
Tartu University Hospital has improved the quality of blood gas testing in its clinical laboratory and critical care units by introducing an automatic system for blood gas analysis [1].
Process optimization
Blood gases/acid-base
Information management
Point-of-care testing
Preanalytical phase
Hemoglobins
Article
July 2007
Ionized calcium
Homeostatic mechanisms ensure that in health the
extracellular fluid (ECF) concentration of electrolytes, including
calcium, is maintained within well-defined limits. Abnormality in
ECF calcium concentration can have profound adverse effects.
The
most common means of assessing calcium status is to measure total...
Preanalytical phase
Electrolytes
Lactate
Hemoglobins
Kidneys/fluids
Article
June 2007
Want to improve patient safety?
In most hospitals, the amount of nursing time spent on actual patient care is only 33 %, while problem solving consumes 40 % of their time. That’s the bad news. The good news is that inverting this ratio may be easier than you think.
According to Dr John Kenagy and David Sundahl of the US-based Kenagy & Associates,...
Point-of-care testing
Preanalytical phase
Process optimization
Article
April 2007
Heel or back of the hand?
Reprinted and translated by permission of Danske
Bioanalytikere, dbio from "Fra hæl eller håndryg", by Jytte
Kristensen, dbio, vol no 4, 2007, pp 8-11. Copyright 2007
by dbio. Translated by Radiometer Medical
ApS.
Norwegian and Danish biomedical laboratory scientists
disagree on best practice when collecting blood...
Neonatology
Preanalytical phase
Glucose
Article
April 2007
The use of heparin in preparing samples for blood gas analysis
The significance of good practice during the pretesting
phase of clinical laboratory investigation cannot be
overemphasized.
The production of high-quality, accurate results
which are clinically useful depends as much on practice before the
patient’s sample reaches the laboratory as it does on the
analytical phase...
Preanalytical phase
Quality assurance
Glucose
Journal Scan
March 2007
Inadequate mixing – a potential preanalytical error revealed
Accurate blood gas results depend on a homogeneous blood sample
and the necessity for thorough mixing of samples is reflected in
written standard operating procedures for blood gas analysis. The
results of a recent study suggest, however, that manual mixing
techniques routinely used may be inadequate in achieving a...
Blood gases/acid-base
Preanalytical phase
Journal Scan
March 2007
Is arterialized capillary blood a suitable alternative to arterial blood for measurement of pH, pCO2 and pO2?
Arterial blood is the standard sample for measurement of pH,
pCO2 and pO2, but
collection of arterial blood can be painful. Furthermore, it is a
procedure associated with some risk to the patient and can
therefore only be performed by trained, medically qualified staff.
Capillary blood collection by finger or...
Blood gases/acid-base
Preanalytical phase
Article
January 2007
Can barcoded wristbands improve patient safety
In the majority of U.S. healthcare institutions, patient wristbands do not contain barcodes, creating a situation where patient data is manually typed into a database or point-of-care device, leaving plenty of room for error.
In light of error statistics issued by the United Kingdom’s National Patient Safety Agency...
Process optimization
Information management
Preanalytical phase
Glucose