[Capillary blood as diagnostic sample in pediatric laboratory diagnosis. Arterio-capillary-venous difference and...

It is preferable to use capillary blood as diagnostic material in paediatric laboratory tests rather than venous blood. The collection of capillary blood makes less demands on the child and is easy in principle. The objection to capillary blood primarily concerns differences in the analyte concentration in arterial, capillary and venous blood. Comparative studies in the same child under standardised conditions are not available for a number of parameters. However, according to the results available at present, for almost all routine clinical chemical and haematological examinations clinically usable results can be obtained. Using the example of total protein analysis for the same child we did not find any differences between arterial and venous blood. It is highly probably that the same would apply to many other components. Suspected differences are probably a result of short-comings in the collection technique.