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A prospective pilot study comparing nasal blood sampling and venipuncture for the assessment of hemoglobin levels and INR
Author(s) -
Stadler Rafael R.,
Soyka Michael B.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.26002
Subject(s) - medicine , venipuncture , nose , point of care , venous blood , blood sampling , phlebotomy , hemoglobin , sampling (signal processing) , surgery , emergency medicine , anesthesia , pathology , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
Objectives/Hypothesis This study is a pilot study evaluating the feasibility of sampling nose blood during an emergency using a commercially available rapid test device. It also compares the accuracy of rapid nasal blood test results to the results of standard laboratory methods using venous blood sampling. Methods Nose blood was collected in patients suffering from active epistaxis. In an emergency setting, hemoglobin levels and the international normalized ratio (INR) were assessed using a rapid point‐of‐care test device. These results were compared to standard laboratory analyses from venous blood taken at the same time from the same patient. Twenty patients consented to and participated in these assessments. Results Linear regression comparing venous and nasal samples revealed strong correlations between the two methods for both hemoglobin and INR measurement. A Bland‐Altman analysis showed the mean difference to be 2.3 g/L when comparing hemoglobin measurements made using the rapid point‐of‐care device to hemoglobin measurements made using conventional lab assessment. The corresponding mean difference for INR measurements was 0.14. Conclusion The results of this pilot study support the use of point‐of‐care test devices using nasal blood sampling and provide preliminary data demonstrating that a rapid testing method can be reliable, practicable, and time‐efficient. In our opinion, rapid hematologic screening for nasal and capillary blood should be available in emergency wards that treat epistaxis. Level of Evidence 4. Laryngoscope , 127:577–581, 2017