Accuracy and clinical utility of a portable coagulometer in an emergency setting

There are limited data concerning accuracy of portable coagulometer in emergency setting.

To evaluate the accuracy of the CoaguChek XS international normalized ratio (INR) monitor compared to the standard laboratory method in emergency department.

Emergency room patients who required coagulation test were recruited. Parallel INR measurements between portable coagulometer and standard laboratory were performed.

Fifty-five patients with a mean age of 59.1 +/- 15.7 years (20-87) were included. Men constituted 56.4%. Indications for testing were as follows: acute stroke 72.7%; abnormal bleeding 7.3%; taking anticoagulant 7.3%; and others 12.7%. Mean time +/- SD used from blood drawn to INR result report was 65.02 +/- 24.5 minutes for standard laboratory and 1 minute for portable coagulometer. Mean difference of INR result from portable coagulometer and standard laboratory was 0.02 +/- 0.13 and an excellence correlation between INR (r = 0.969) was demonstrated. There was no significant difference between the INR value from the two methods (p = 0.34).

The use of portable coagulometer (CoaguChek XS) in emergency setting was accurate and required less time. Acute ischemic stroke patients are likely to benefit from a timely clinical decision making for thrombolysis medication.