Nephrology nursing journal : journal of the American Nephrology Nurses' Association
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Comparative Study
Comparison of sampling methods for obtaining accurate coagulation values in hemodialysis patients with heparinized central venous catheters.
Monitoring coagulation values in hemodialysis (HD) is integral to the care of patients with central venous catheters (CVCs) to maintain catheter patency. HD patients can have problems providing blood samples and may experience discomfort with venipuncture, but no consensus in the literature is available to identify a reliable and efficient method of obtaining an international normalization ratio (INR) value from a heparinized CVC line. This was a comparative study of three different methods of blood sampling for INR values. ⋯ Results revealed that both alternative methods are suitable for taking INR samples. As a result of this study, the arterial bloodline sample port method for INR sampling was introduced into the HD unit at this hospital. This method has proven to be simple, quick, accurate, and noninvasive to renal patients.