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Comparison of jugular and transverse facial venous sinus blood analytes in healthy and critically ill adult horses
Author(s) -
Lascola Kara M.,
Vander Werf Karie,
Freese Stephanie,
Morgera Alison,
Schaeffer David J.,
Wilkins Pamela
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of veterinary emergency and critical care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.886
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1476-4431
pISSN - 1479-3261
DOI - 10.1111/vec.12588
Subject(s) - venipuncture , medicine , jugular vein , venous blood , hematocrit , point of care , horse , anesthesia , surgery , nursing , paleontology , biology
Objective To compare blood gas, electrolyte, and metabolic analysis results between blood obtained by jugular and transverse facial venous sinus (TFVS) venipuncture in healthy adult horses and sick adult horses presented for emergency evaluation. Design Prospective, experimental study, from June 2012 to October 2013. Setting Large animal university teaching hospital. Animals Ten healthy adult University‐owned horses and 48 client‐owned adult horses (≥2 years old) presenting to the large animal hospital emergency service for medical or surgical evaluation of systemic illness. Interventions Venipunctures (jugular vein [JV] and TFVS) were performed using preheparinized syringes and obtained prior to institution of medical therapy. Samples were analyzed in random order within a 10‐minute interval using a point‐of‐care blood gas analyzer (NOVA Critical Care Xpress) that also reports electrolyte and metabolite results. Comparisons between venipuncture sites were analyzed using the Student's paired t ‐test for normally distributed data and the Wilcoxon paired test for nonnormally distributed data. Bland–Altman analysis was used to assess agreement between venipuncture sites. Measurements and Main Results There were no statistically significant differences found between variables for JV and TFVS in healthy horses. In sick horses, JV measurements were greater than TFVS for ionized calcium ( P = 0.002) and glucose ( P = 0.001), and less than TFVS for hematocrit ( P = 0.015). Bland–Altman plots demonstrated small biases but overall agreement between sites. Conclusions The TFVS can be used interchangeably with JV for venous blood gas analysis in healthy horses. In sick horses, identified differences were small and likely not clinically important. The reliability of this point‐of‐care blood gas analyzer for measurement of hematocrit remains to be determined.