Glucose Preanalytical Challenge

Case: 13 years old girl from Belgium is weak and have been feeling dizzy lately. Family doctor sent her to lab for a blood sugar screening. He requested plasma glucose and instructed patient to fast 12 hours before the blood test. Next morning the phlebotomist welcomed the patien and confirmed the patient identity. Bloot test was taken at 07:30 in the morning. Picture of the blood test is below.

Can you find any preanalytical errors from this case?

Correct answer is below the image


(Click image to enlarge)

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CORRECT ANSWER: Thera are many errors in this case. The most serious errors are: 12h fasting for potential young diabetic girl, the phlebotomist did not ask if the patient were fasting and a wrong sample was taken (capillary blood insted of plasma).

Also the finger prick sample was taken from the wrong finger, from the wrong location (center of the finger) and phlebotomist´s grip of the finger is not optimal. In some countries the use of gloves is requirement as well.