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The pneumatic tube system does not affect complete blood count results; a validation study at a tertiary care hospital
Author(s) -
AlRiyami A. Z.,
AlKhabori M.,
AlHadhrami R. M.,
AlAzwani I. S.,
Davis H. M.,
AlFarsi K. S.,
Alkindi S. S.,
Daar S. F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of laboratory hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.705
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1751-553X
pISSN - 1751-5521
DOI - 10.1111/ijlh.12180
Subject(s) - medicine , complete blood count , confidence interval , limits of agreement , white blood cell , bland–altman plot , correlation coefficient , blood count , coefficient of variation , nuclear medicine , surgery , mathematics , statistics
Summary Introduction Effect of the pneumatic tube system (PTS) on sample quality is controversial. Herein we aim at evaluating the impact of sample transportation via the PTS on complete blood count ( CBC ) results. Methods Duplicate CBC samples from normal donors and anemic patients were sent in parallel to the laboratory for testing through the PTS and the courier ( CO ). We used scatter plots, Bland–Altman plots, correlation coefficient ( r ), and coefficient of determination for the validation. Results A total of 115 samples (donors: 59, patients: 56) were tested. There was excellent correlation between both methods for red blood cell parameters ( r range = 0.9213–0.9958) and platelet count. White blood cell ( WBC ) count and differential count showed similar results ( r range = 0.8605–0.9821) for all, with exception of basophils which showed modest correlation ( r = 0.4827 for patients and 0.5758 for normal donors). Most of the differences in measurement of all CBC parameters were within the 95% confidence interval of the mean difference on Bland–Altman plots. Conclusion Modern PTS can be safely used for transporting CBC samples.