Comparability and Stability of Serum Creatinine Concentration in Capillary and Venous Blood.

Background

The use of self-collected capillary blood has several advantages over phlebotomy, as such finger-prick testing is rapidly becoming accepted as a routine sample type for adults. However, there is limited evidence that venous and capillary serum is comparable for many analytes. This study aimed to determine whether capillary samples could offer an alternative sampling method to venous samples for the assessment of serum creatinine using the enzymatic method and if this analyte was stable in unspun capillary blood for 3 days.

Methods

Matched capillary and venous blood samples were collected from 48 patients for the determination of serum creatinine, one set being processed on day zero, the other set being stored at ambient temperature and then processed on day three. Self-collected capillary blood was compared with phlebotomist-collected venous samples.

Results

Serum creatinine concentrations from venous and capillary blood samples taken on day zero were compared to concentrations in capillary blood from day three. Data produced showed serum creatinine concentrations from capillary and venous serum to be comparable.

Conclusion

It is believed that this is the first published study to determine if self-collected capillary blood sampling is an acceptable alternative to venous sampling for the measurement of serum creatinine concentration; our data indicates that there is no significant difference in results from unspun venous and capillary blood stored at room temperature for at least 3 days compared to venous blood tested on the same day of collection.