EDITORIALE   

La Rivista Italiana della Medicina di Laboratorio 2019 Dicembre;15(4):239-42

DOI: 10.23736/S1825-859X.19.00044-6

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Can we trust clinical practice guidelines concerning laboratory medicine?

Piero CAPPELLETTI ✉

SIPMeL, Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, Italia

Nowadays, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are a common tool for most clinicians, the basis for some aspects of healthcare systems such as the clinical pathways, a main goal for many scientific societies, an ethical essential, and in Italy a legal reference for medical litigations. Nevertheless, some criticisms are present about the quality of utilized evidences and about the process of production (biases and transparency). For CPGs with relevant aspects belonging to laboratory medicine, some recent articles highlight limitations and weaknesses of their production, related to insufficient specifications of analytical, pre-analytical, and post-analytical characteristics. Moreover, the quality of scientific literature about biomarkers, that could be the basis of evidence utilized in CPGs, appears very low. In order to improve quality of evidence and guidelines, convergent actions are needed by clinical researchers, laboratory professionals, scientific journals, and institutions involved in CPGs, such as the National System for Guidelines in Italy.

KEY WORDS: Practice guidelines as topic; Medical laboratory science; Evidence-based medicine