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Capillary blood sampling increases the risk of preanalytical errors in pediatric hospital care: Observational

Henrik Hjelmgren1,2, Anna Nilsson1,2, Ida H Myrberg2

  • 1Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing : JSPN
|May 7, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Capillary blood sampling in children has a higher risk of preanalytical errors compared to venous sampling. Increasing body weight and using fewer tubes can reduce these errors in pediatric blood collection.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric hospital care
  • Clinical laboratory science
  • Patient safety

Background:

  • Preanalytical errors are a significant challenge in pediatric blood sampling.
  • Understanding factors contributing to these errors is crucial for improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the risk of preanalytical errors between capillary and venous blood sampling in pediatric patients.
  • To identify specific factors associated with preanalytical errors in pediatric blood collection.

Main Methods:

  • Observational study analyzing medical records and blood sampling surveys from 2014-2016.
  • Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (adj-OR) for preanalytical errors.

Main Results:

  • 13% of 951 blood samples had preanalytical errors.
  • Capillary blood sampling showed a significantly higher error rate (20%) compared to venous sampling (9.4%), with an adj-OR of 2.88.
  • Multiple sample tube collection increased error risk, while higher child body weight demonstrated a protective effect, particularly for venous samples.

Conclusions:

  • Capillary blood sampling significantly increases the risk of preanalytical errors in pediatric settings.
  • Interventions such as prioritizing venous sampling and optimizing capillary collection techniques, alongside considering patient weight and tube usage, can mitigate these errors.
Abstract

Keywords:
blood sampling collectioncapillary blood samplingchildrennursingpediatric hospital carepreanalytical errorsrisk factorsvenous blood sampling

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