Comparisons of electrolytes were measured by Point-of-care testing and auto-analyzer / Эрүүл мэндийн лаборатори

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Electrolyte values are measured by two different analyzers: arterial blood gas (Point of care) and auto-analyzers. Those two has different methods to measure electrolytes and have several pros and cons. We evaluated if there was agreement between whole blood electrolytes measured by a point-of-care device and serum electrolytes measured using indirect ion-selective electrodes. @*Materials and methods@#An observational cohort study was conducted in 50 paired venous samples from patients admitted in Gurvan gal central hospital. Those were analyzed on OPTC blood gas devise and Roche c-501 auto-analyzer. Statistical analyses were performed using paired t-test and persons’ correlation test. @*Results@#Sodium mean range was 138.54 mmol/l (SD=3.69) by blood gas analyser, but by the automated analyser mean range was 140.75 mmol/l (SD=4.45). Mean difference of the normal sodium group was 1.77 (SD=1.65, p=0.039), and hyposodium group was 4.4 (SD=0.33, p=0.007). Pottasium mean range was 3.13 mmol/l (SD=0.53) by blood gas analyser, but by the automated analyser mean range was 4.42 mmol/l (SD=0.45). Mean difference of the normal sodium group was 0.18 (p<0.001), and hypokalemi group was 1.44 (p<0.001). @*Conclusion@#Clinicians should be aware of the difference between whole blood and serum electrolytes. A correction factor needs to be determined at each laboratory.