Development, validation and standardization of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid determination by LC-MS/MS for implementation in quality-controlled environments

•A fast, simple and reliable LC-MS/MS method was proposed for urinary 5-HIAA determination.•The sample was prepared by the dilute-and-shoot method and a total run time of 4 min was required for LC-MS/MS analysis.•The quality assurance referring to post-implementation monitoring has been probed and discussed.•The clinical testing of urinary 5-HIAA could be performed in quality-controlled environments.