ABO Discrepancies & Errors in A Routine Blood Bank

Abstract

Objective: To identify the incidence & type ofABO discrepancies and errors leading to wrong results Place & Duration: Retrospective study conducted in the EIBDK institute of hematology, Dow University of health sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. From June 2012 till June 2013 Material & Methods: All the data of ABO grouping during study period was collected. ABO discrepancies, pre-analytical, analytical& post —analytical errors in routine blood grouping were noted and recorded on a proforma designed for the study and results were tabulated. Results; 30 discrepancies (0.3 %), 18 (0.18 %) pre & post analytic errors were identified from a total of 10,000 blood group tests performed during the study period. The commonest of all was ABO discrepancy due to sub-groups n 26 ( 86.6 %) followed by auto-antibodies n 4 (13.3 "9(6 ). Conclusion: ABO discrepancy is not an infrequent finding in routine blood banking while pre-analytical, analytical and post analytical errors are also seen in routine practice and are small but very important source of mistakes which can lead to serious hazards of transfusion. Measures should be taken to identify and resolve these discrepancies while ensuring proper collection, labeling, analysis and reporting of results for safe blood transfusion.