Os impactos na confiabilidade dos resultados e na qualidade hematológica de esfregaço sanguíneo realizado com sangue nativo versus sangue com anticoagulante EDTA: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

The quality of blood smears plays a fundamental role in the morphological interpretation of hematological cells and in the reliability of laboratory results. Thus, the present study aims to compare the impacts on the quality of smears made with native blood, collected without anticoagulant, in relation to those prepared with samples treated with EDTA, an anticoagulant widely used in routine laboratory practice. The methodology of the study consisted of a literature review, in which six studies most relevant to the topic were selected from the Scielo and Google Scholar websites, using descriptors such as blood count, blood, EDTA, quality, and reliability of results, comparing them with each other and analyzing their results. It was observed that the use of EDTA, although essential for automated blood counts, can induce morphological changes in lymphocytes and neutrophils, in addition to compromising the integrity of red blood cells when subjected to specific conditions, which may be absent or reduced in native blood, although with operational limitations in the routine laboratory environment. The comparison showed that factors such as temperature, storage time, blood/anticoagulant ratio, contribute to cellular changes presented in smears, which may compromise diagnostic reliability. Furthermore, it was discussed that even with advances in automated reading of hematology slides, this is still not a reality in many laboratories, including small ones and public institutions. Therefore, it is important to prepare a high-quality blood smear with the available resources, taking into account all the factors that negatively influence it and minimizing their impacts, to produce quality results.