The Effects of Hemolysis, Icterus, Lipemia, Refrigeration, Diurnal Variation, and Drugs on Laboratory Tests; Pediatric Clinical Chemistry

Laboratory testing is affected by the quality of the specimen submitted for analysis. Inadequate specimen quality contributes to pre-analytical variation. Major contributors to specimen inadequacy include hemolysis, icterus, and lipemia. Modern laboratory instrumentation measures these potential interferences prior to analysis and flags affected results as being potentially invalid. Medications also frequently alter laboratory results as a direct effect or a side effect while laboratory values in neonates and children frequently differ from those in adults.