<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>With about 60%-70% of medical decisions based on laboratory investigations, modern medicine is increasingly more reliant on laboratory medicine. Pediatric healthcare particularly depends on laboratory testing, with reference intervals (RIs) serving as critical tools for accurate result interpretation. However, establishing pediatric RIs poses distinctive challenges due to developmental, growth, nutritional, and disease-related variations across age groups, along with technical, ethical, and logistical challenges. Despite these limitations, there are several ongoing initiatives for developing pediatric RIs globally, underscoring the importance of developing accurate pediatric RIs. This review outlines the particularities of pediatric laboratory medicine and the specific challenges in establishing pediatric RIs, highlighting the recent initiatives in this area. It also addresses biological and analytical variability issues and explores future perspectives aimed at enhancing diagnostic accuracy and elevating patient care standards.</p>
</abstract>

With about 60%-70% of medical decisions based on laboratory investigations, modern medicine is increasingly more reliant on laboratory medicine. Pediatric healthcare particularly depends on laboratory testing, with reference intervals (RIs) serving as critical tools for accurate result interpretation. However, establishing pediatric RIs poses distinctive challenges due to developmental, growth, nutritional, and disease-related variations across age groups, along with technical, ethical, and logistical challenges. Despite these limitations, there are several ongoing initiatives for developing pediatric RIs globally, underscoring the importance of developing accurate pediatric RIs. This review outlines the particularities of pediatric laboratory medicine and the specific challenges in establishing pediatric RIs, highlighting the recent initiatives in this area. It also addresses biological and analytical variability issues and explores future perspectives aimed at enhancing diagnostic accuracy and elevating patient care standards.

Small patients, big challenges: navigating the complex world of pediatric reference intervals

George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures

Revista Romana de Medicina de Laborator

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

With about 60%-70% of medical decisions based on laboratory investigations, modern medicine is increasingly more reliant on laboratory medicine. Pediatric...

Small patients, big challenges: navigating the complex world of pediatric reference intervals

Published Online: Jul 31, 2024

Page range: 197 - 212

Received: Jun 26, 2024

Accepted: Jul 08, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rrlm-2024-0024

Keywords
biological variation, pediatric reference range initiatives, pediatrics, reference change values, reference intervals

© 2024 Măriuca Mănescu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Small patients, big challenges: navigating the complex world of pediatric reference intervals

Published Online: Jul 31, 2024

Page range: 197 - 212

Received: Jun 26, 2024

Accepted: Jul 08, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rrlm-2024-0024

Keywordsbiological variation, pediatric reference range initiatives, pediatrics, reference change values, reference intervals

© 2024 Măriuca Mănescu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
biological variation, pediatric reference range initiatives, pediatrics, reference change values, reference intervals