A Bibliometric Analysis of the Errors and Mistakes in the Medical Laboratory

Abstract Background: The increasing number/varieties of tests and rising demands are reasons for the increasing challenges to laboratory professionals, such as increasing workloads, maintaining turnaround time, and quality improvement. Furthermore, the laboratory faces many occupational hazards due to negligence or lack of knowledge regarding biosafety guidelines among the laboratory professionals. A laboratory involves mechanical, chemical, biological, and environmental components of activities, and errors/mistakes/ignorance in any of these disciplines create hazards and risks to people working inside the laboratory. Objective: We aimed to identify the types of errors, accidents, and ignorance in medical/clinical laboratories that have been published or presented worldwide. Materials and Methods: We performed a bibliometric analysis to search and analyze those studies which are published in different journals as articles or reviews, or published as books or chapters, and even, those presented as conference papers and short surveys. Results: The bibliometric analysis shows the pre-analytical phase as the most vulnerable to errors due to human errors and other activities outside the laboratory, which are beyond the control and preview of laboratories many times. A few studies suggest an increase in several tests and a lack of awareness among physicians while ordering the test as one of the reasons for the poor efficiency of laboratory services. Similarly, ignorance of the safety measures leads to occupational hazards among laboratory professionals. Conclusion: The study recommends focusing on the pre-analytical phase and providing awareness to clinicians about the tests conducted by the respective laboratories. This study also highlights that errors in the laboratory should be published for future records and learning.