Evaluation of a continuous glucose monitoring system in neonatal foals

Abstract

Background: Monitoring blood glucose concentrations is common in critically ill neonatal foals, especially septic foals and those receiving naso-esophageal feedings or IV parenteral nutrition. Glucose typically is measured using a point-of-care (POC) glucometer but requires repeated restraint and blood collections, which may cause irritation at venipuncture sites and increased demands on nursing staff. Continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) may provide an accurate alternative for monitoring blood glucose concentration.Objectives: To determine the correlation and accuracy of a CGMS to monitor neonatal foals' blood glucose concentrations as compared to a POC glucometer and laboratory chemistry analysis (CHEM).Animals: Samples from 4 healthy and 4 ill neonatal foals.Methods: A CGMS was placed on each foal, and glucose measurements acquired from this device were compared to simultaneous measurements of blood glucose concentration using a POC glucometer and CHEM.Results: Two-hundred matched glucose measurements were collected from 8 neonatal foals. The mean bias (95% limits of agreement) between CGMS and CHEM, CGMS and POC glucometer, and POC glucometer and CHEM was 3.97 mg/dL (À32.5 to 40.4), 18.2 mg/dL (À28.8 to 65.2), and 22.18 mg/dL (À9.3 to 53.67), respectively. The Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was significantly correlated among all devices: GCMS and CHEM (r = 0.81), CGMS and POC glucometer (r = 0.77) and POC glucometer-CHEM (r = 0.92).Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Within the blood glucose concentration ranges in this study (78-212 mg/dL), CGMS measurements were significantly correlated with CHEM, suggesting that it is an acceptable method to provide meaningful, immediate, and continuous glucose concentration measurements in neonatal foals while eliminating the need for repeated restraint and blood collection.

Using point‐of‐care devices to examine covariation among blood nutritional‐physiological parameters and their relationships with poxvirus infection, habitat urbanization, and male plumage coloration in house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)

“…However, concerns persist over measurement accuracy and comparability (i.e., to traditional lab assays) when using POC devices, especially in wild animals, where this has not been frequently investigated. Some studies using POC glucometers found accurate levels of blood glucose in foals (Wong et al, 2021), dogs (Lane et al, 2015), and birds (McGraw et al, 2020; Morales et al, 2020), but in house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) researchers found only moderate repeatability of glucose, ketone, and uric acid compared with lab assays (Beattie et al, 2022). There is also the growing need to understand the extent to which these hematological measurements yield information about separate or linked physiological processes (i.e., are concentrations of different blood nutrients intercorrelated?)…”