Comparison of capillary and venous blood glucose levels using glucometer and laboratory blood glucose level in poisoned patients being in coma

Abstract

Background:Poisoning is one of the most common medical presentations in a hospital. Hypoglycemic patients are at increased risk of toxicity. The purpose of this study was to compare capillary blood glucose and venous blood glucose measurements using glucometer against laboratory blood glucose in case of poisoned patients being in coma.Materials and Methods:During the 6-month study period, a random sample of 98 patients was admitted in the Department of Poisoning Emergency and Clinical Toxicology of Noor Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran from May 2010. Data collected included age, gender, poisoning reason, vital signs, and Glasgow Coma Scale. Capillary blood samples were obtained from the fourth fingertip of the non-dominant hand. t-Test, paired t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for analysis.Results:The mean of capillary blood glucose was 115.7 ± 50.2, of venous blood glucose measured by glucose meter was 117.8 ± 47.3, and of glucose measured in vitro was 115.8 ± 55.1. Mean of blood glucose showed no significant difference with the three mentioned methods. The correlation between capillary and intravenous blood glucose samples measured by glucometer was 0.93, between capillary blood glucose and in vitro measured venous blood glucose was 0.78, and between venous blood glucose measured by glucose meter and in vitro measured sample was 0.81. The mean of capillary and venous blood glucose levels measured by glucose meter, capillary and venous blood glucose levels measured in vitro, and venous blood glucose levels measured by glucose meter had no significant differences.Conclusion:Using venous blood sample and measuring the glucose level in it by glucometer is an acceptable and advisable method, and capillary blood glucose measurement by using glucometer is not recommended for patients in coma.

Late dinner impairs glucose tolerance in MTNR1B risk allele carriers: A randomized, cross-over study

“…Nevertheless, previous studies conclude that there exists a strong correlation between capillary and intravenous blood glucose samples ranging from r=0.933 to 0.973 ( P <0.01). Moreover, no significant time lag during glucose excursions was observed among the ISF, and capillary and venous glucose levels (38, 39). In addition, if capillary glucose measures are less robust than venous blood glucose measures and do indeed introduce greater variance in our data, this increased noise would have biased our finding towards the null hypothesis.…”

Comparison of Glucose Values of Blood Samples Taken in Three Different Ways

“…It was determined that though it was appropriate to use fasting CG levels to determine the prevalence of diabetes in populations, it should not be used to reliably diagnose diabetes in individuals (Tirimacco et al, 2010). In addition, the venous blood glucose value was reported to give better results than the capillary blood glucose value in the coma patients (Yaraghi et al, 2015). In a study with intensive care patients, Lonjaret et al (2012) compared capillary and arterial blood glucose measurements with central laboratory arterial glucose measurements.…”

Comparing Blood Sugar Levels Measured by the Glucometer in Healthy and Crushed Fingers to Predict Gangrene in Tehran, Iran

“…In a study by Funk DL et al (11), relative and absolute contraindications of measured capillary were used to measure the blood glucose of poisoned patients in coma due to environmental vasoconstriction reasons, cold extremities, low blood pressure, inflammation and local edema; results of this study were consistent with those of the current study conducted based on peripheral vascular and finger artery damages, coldness, and local inflammation of damaged fingers and obvious difference between sugar levels of two fingers, especially the crushed fingers that later were gangrenous and amputated. In a study by Yaraghi et al (12) performed in Isfahan on poisoned patients who were in coma, a comparison of capillary and venous blood samples and also glucose levels measured by the glucometer and laboratory tests showed that venous blood glucose samples measured by the glucometer were acceptable, but capillary blood glucose samples measured by the glucometer from patients in coma were not suggested. In other words, the problem was not due to using the glucometer, but due to changes in capillaries, due to local and inflammatory factors and vascular changes, which was also confirmed by the current study.…”