• M Muñoz Gómez, E Naveira Abeigón, A Romero Ruiz, and G Ramírez Ramírez.
• GIEMSA, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Málaga. mmunoz@uma.es
• Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2003 Aug 1;50(7):332-9.

ObjectivesThe prevalence of anemia among emergency, surgery and critically ill patients is high. As a consequence, many of these patients receive transfusions of packed red cells, with hemoglobin (Hb) concentration being one of the most widely applied criteria for prescription. Accordingly, this study was undertaken 1) to ascertain the accuracy and precision of point-of-care Hb measurements obtained with the portable photometric HemoCue B-Hemoglobin analyzer (HBH) in comparison those performed with the reference cell counter Pentra 120 Retic (ABX), and 2) to evaluate the potential clinical utility of the HCB.Materials And MethodsPatients from postanaesthesic recovery unit (PRU, n = 37), intensive care unit (ICU, n = 43) were enrolled and capillary and venous blood samples were taken; emergency room patients with bleeding (ER, n = 35) were also enrolled and arterial blood samples were taken. Hb concentrations were measured 3 times for each patient, using both the HBH and the ABX analyzers.ResultsNo significant differences between mean Hb values obtained with the HBH and the ABX were found; nor were coefficients of variation significantly different. The coefficients of correlation (Pearson'sr) between the 2 devices were > 0.95 for both arterial and venous blood samples, whereas the correlations for capillary blood samples were 0.747 for PRU patients and 0.859 for ICU patients.ConclusionBased on the reliable results obtained for venous and arterial blood samples, Hb concentrations determined with the portable HBH analyzer may be highly useful for point-of-care monitoring of anemia and evaluating the transfusion requirements of ER, PRU, and ICU patients. However, the degree of inaccuracy and variability of Hb measurements in capillary blood samples would discourage us from using it in these patients.

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