Intraosseous samples can be used for creatinine measurements--an experimental study in the anaesthetised pig.

BACKGROUND

Intraosseous (IO) access is a valuable tool in prehospital locations and in emergency departments when other forms of vascular access are unavailable. Creatinine is often used for dose adjustment of drugs that may be administered through intraosseous cannulae. We aimed to study the possibility of analysing creatinine in intraosseous samples and study the accuracy and precision of such measurements.

METHODS

Eight pigs with endotoxin induced septic shock were sampled hourly for six hours and analysed for plasma creatinine. Samples were collected from arterial, venous, and IO cannulae.

RESULTS

There was an increase in creatinine values during the later part of the experiment. The coefficients of variation between the three sampling sites were less than 10% at all sampling times.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our findings intraosseous samples can be used for creatinine determination in emergency settings.