A COVID-19 na rotina de um laboratório particular de análises clínicas, em Barra do Garças

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic proved difficult for institutions and medical professionals in particular. It was widely assumed that more tests were carried out in clinical analysis laboratories during the outbreak. Records from 2019 to 2022 from a private clinical analysis laboratory in Barra do Garças, MT, were analyzed to verify whether the coronavirus pandemic modified test demand and routine at the laboratory. This allowed for the identification, distribution, and quantification of the exam data supplied by the lab within the hematological, biochemistry, and immunology fields. The primary examinations that were utilized to help diagnose Covid-19 in patients who exhibited clinical symptoms were made. Through the use of descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA), it was possible to determine that there was an increase in the number of tests performed in 2021 compared to the years between 2019 and 2022. The majority of these tests were immunological procedures (new tests for the detection of Covid-19 appeared during this time), as well as hematology exams (the blood count being one of the most important ones) and biochemistry tests (urea, creatinine, TGO, TGP, D-dimer, among others), exams that increased in number and persisted in high levels even after the pandemic's most dire time. With the main focus in the years 2021 and 2022, this work sought to demonstrate that there was an increase in demand and in the type of exams performed in laboratories. It also sought to demonstrate that there were additional implications, such as the need to strengthen safety precautions to protect both patients and staff.