Capillary versus venous complete blood count in preterm neonates

This study included 50 healthy newborns [23 males and 27 females]. Capillary and venous samples for complete and differential blood count were taken for each newborn. The mean and standard deviations for each parameter were calculated and compared. The study showed that capillary blood samples had significantly higher Hb, Hct, RBCs, WBCs, significantly higher capillary polymorph counts and mean platelet volume, but venous MCV was significantly higher than capillary MCV. The differences were not significant in MCH and RDW between venous and capillary blood. There was no statistical difference between WBCs/RBCs ratio for capillary and venous blood