A stool container is STAT and comes into the lab leaking. What do you do?

A stool container is STAT and comes into the lab leaking. What do you do?

• A. Reject as it is recollectable
• B. Process anyway
• C. Refrigerate and process later
• D. Discard and request recollection

Answer: (A)

Leaking stool containers compromise both safety and sample integrity, so they cannot be processed. The right move is to reject the current specimen and arrange a recollection from the patient. Processing a compromised sample risks contamination and unreliable results, and refrigerating or attempting to process later won’t fix the leak or restore quality. Discarding without a recollection would delay care, so the appropriate action is rejection with a recollection request.

Leaking stool containers compromise both safety and sample integrity, so they cannot be processed. The right move is to reject the current specimen and arrange a recollection from the patient. Processing a compromised sample risks contamination and unreliable results, and refrigerating or attempting to process later won’t fix the leak or restore quality. Discarding without a recollection would delay care, so the appropriate action is rejection with a recollection request.