Best practices in sample management & pre-analytical quality control: overcoming challenges in resource-limited laboratory settings

Description

Blessing Kenechi Myke-Mbata, Bruno Basil, Izuchukwu Nnachi Mba, and Anthony Osondu Ugwu reviewed how laboratories in resource-limited settings can stop losing diagnoses before testing even starts. Most laboratory errors worldwide happen in the pre-analytical phase, from ordering and collection through transport, and weak infrastructure, unreliable transport, staff shortages, and patchy quality systems magnify them in poorer settings. Seventy-one sources fed a framework of adaptive protocols, human-centred quality, and appropriate technology.

The commonest failures were blood samples breaking down, mislabelled specimens, clotting, too little volume, and transport damage. Fixes with evidence behind them include standardised blood drawing, dried blood spot sampling, passive cooling, motorcycle and drone transport, competency-based training, picture-based procedures, blame-free quality cultures, and cheap digital information systems. The authors package the findings as a practical framework for diagnostic reliability.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13393920