Specimen Hemolysis Quick Question

We’ve closed our November, 2016 Quick Question, “How do you manage hemostasis specimens with visible hemolysis?” Here are your answers:

1. It all depends, please see my comment: 14 respondents, 18%
2. Discard specimen and notify the patient or caregiver: 27 respondents, 37%
3. Perform the requested assay and append a comment: 17 respondents, 23%
4. Perform the assay if the plasma HGB is < a predetermined limit: 13 respondents, 18%
5. Perform the assay if the patient is inaccessible, append a comment: 3 respondents, 4%

Specimen hemolysis is the most common specimen rejection reason, followed by clotting and short draws. See our December 6, 2016 post, ED Hemolysis for a discussion of approaches to reducing hemolyzed specimens.