Blood glucose determinations in newborns: four instruments compared

Four portable analyzers, HemoCue B-Glucose (I), Accu-Check III (II), One-touch II (III), and Glucometer Elite (IV), with different measuring principles were tested for their suitability for measuring blood glucose in neonates. Precision of all instruments is satisfactory. In the analysis of capillary blood from newborns, two instruments show an excellent accuracy; however, the scatter of the results for instrument (II) is about 1.6 times greater than for instrument (I). The inaccuracy of instruments (III) and (IV) is not acceptable from a clinical point of view. All devices show an influence of hematocrit, the magnitude of which varies between 5% (I) and 12% (III) for every 10% change of hematocrit. Instruments II and IV show that temperature has a marked influence on the readings; the same is true for oxygen in instrument IV. In conclusion, only instrument (I) has met the requirements of accurate and precise blood glucose determinations in neonates.