The bone marrow as a source of laboratory studies

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Emergency Medicine
• Clinical Pathology

Background:

• Intraosseous (IO) access is a critical emergency alternative to intravenous (IV) access for fluid and drug administration.
• A limitation of IO access is the need for separate IV access to obtain blood samples for diagnostics.
• This study evaluates the utility of IO blood samples for laboratory analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reliability of intraosseous blood samples for various laboratory tests.
• To compare intraosseous blood sample results with simultaneous arterial and venous samples.
• To determine if IO access can be used for diagnostic blood sampling in emergencies.

Main Methods:

• Bone marrow samples were obtained from ten anesthetized dogs.
• Samples were analyzed for blood electrolytes, blood chemistries, blood gases, and hemoglobin.
• Results were compared with simultaneous arterial and venous blood samples.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found for electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide) or most blood chemistries.
• Significant differences were observed for glucose and alkaline phosphatase when comparing IO with arterial samples.
• Marginal differences were noted for glucose, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase when comparing IO with venous samples.

Conclusions:

• Intraosseous blood samples provide reliable results for electrolytes and many blood chemistries, similar to arterial and venous samples.
• IO access can potentially serve as a source for diagnostic blood sampling in emergency situations.
• Further investigation may be warranted for specific analytes like glucose and alkaline phosphatase.