Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reliability of HemoCue in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Intensive Care Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

HemoCue is routinely used to manage bleeding patients, but few studies have evaluated its accuracy in this population. We compared HemoCue with laboratory determination of blood hemoglobin in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Design and setting

A prospective observational study in a 14-bed medicosurgical ICU and an emergency department in an urban general hospital.

Patients

94 patients admitted to the emergency department or to the ICU for gastrointestinal bleeding.

Interventions

Blood was drawn at admission to measure laboratory hemoglobin and capillary hemoglobin was measured simultaneously by HemoCue. The unit of hospitalization and the presence or absence of impaired vital signs (tachycardia and/or hypotension and/or shock) were recorded.

Measurements and results

The mean difference between HemoCue and hemoglobin (bias) was −0.06 g/dl and standard deviation (precision) 0.87 g/dl. (95% CI −1.8 to 1.68). Discrepancies between HemoCue and hemoglobin were greater than 1 g/dl in 21% of cases. Bias was comparable between patients admitted to the ICU and those in the emergency department. The accuracy of HemoCue was not affected by the presence of impaired vital signs or by a hemoglobin level below 9 g/dl or 7 g/dl.

Conclusions

Although we demonstrated a low bias between HemoCue and blood hemoglobin determination, large HemoCue vs. hemoglobin differences may still occur, and therefore therapeutic decisions based upon capillary HemoCue alone should be very cautious.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Longstreth GF (1995) Epidemiology of hospitalization for acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage: a population-based study. Am J Gastroenterol 90:206–210

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Longstreth GF (1997) Epidemiology and outcome of patients hospitalized with acute lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage: a population-based study. Am J Gastroenterol 92:419–424

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Conway AM, Hinchliffe RF, Earland J, Anderson LM (1998) Measurement of hemoglobin using single drops of skin puncture blood: is precision acceptable? J Clin Pathol 51:248–250

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Jaeger M, Ashbury T, Adams M, Duncan P (1996) Perioperative on-site haemoglobin determination: as accurate as laboratory values? Can J Anaesth 43:795–798

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chen PP, Short TG, Leung DH, Oh TE (1992) A clinical evaluation of the HemoCue haemoglobinometer using capillary, venous and arterial samples. Anaesth Intensive Care 20:497–500

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bland MJ, Altman DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet I:307–310

    Google Scholar 

  7. Nozoe T, Matsumata T, Sugimachi K (2002) Clinical impact of patients with ruptured esophageal varices with death outcome. Hepatogastroenterology 49:185–187

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. So JB, Yam A, Cheah WK, Kum CK, Goh PM (2000) Risk factors related to operative mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing emergency gastrectomy. Br J Surg 87:1702–1707

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hebert PC, Wells G, Blajchman MA, Marshall J, Martin C, Pagliarello G, Tweeddale M, Schweitzer I, Yetisir E (1999) A multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial of transfusion requirements in critical care. Transfusion Requirements in Critical Care Investigators, Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. N Engl J Med 340:409–417

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lebrec D, Vinel JP, Dupas JL (2005) Complications of portal hypertension in adults: a French consensus. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 17:403–410

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Munoz Gomez M, Naveira E, Romero A, Cordero J, Gonzalez Molina M, Ramirez Ramirez G (2004) Accuracy and reliability of the immediate determination of haemoglobin using the HemoCue B hemoglobin in patients undergoing haemodialysis. Nefrologia 24:579–582

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Paddle JJ (2002) Evaluation of the haemoglobin colour scale and comparison with the HemoCue haemoglobin assay. Bull World Health Organ 80:813–816

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Rippmann CE, Nett PC, Popovic D, Seifert B, Pasch T, Spahn DR (1997) HemoCue, an accurate bedside method of hemoglobin measurement? J Clin Monit 13:373–377

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lardi AM, Hirst C, Mortimer AJ, McCollum CN (1998) Evaluation of the HemoCue for measuring intra-operative haemoglobin concentrations: a comparison with the Coulter Max-M. Anaesthesia 53:349–352

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Radtke H, Polat G, Kalus U, Salama A, Kiesewetter H (2005) Hemoglobin screening in prospective blood donors: comparison of different blood samples and different quantitative methods. Transfus Apher Sci 33:31–35

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Munoz M, Romero A, Gomez JF, Manteca A, Naveira E, Ramirez G (2005) Utility of point-of-care haemoglobin measurement in the HemoCue-B haemoglobin for the initial diagnosis of anaemia. Clin Lab Haematol 27:99–104

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Munoz Gomez M, Naveira Abeigon E, Romero Ruiz A, Ramirez Ramirez G (2003) Precision and accuracy of the immediate determination of hemoglobin using HemoCueB Hemoglobin in urgent, surgical, and critical patients. Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim 50:332–339

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medicosurgical Intensive Care Unit, Centre Hospitalier Sud-Francilien, Quartier du Canal, Courcouronnes, 91014, Evry, France

    Andry Van de Louw, Stéphane Thierry, Lucien Lecuyer, Daniel Caen & Alain Tenaillon

  2. Emergency Department, Centre Hospitalier Sud-Francilien, Quartier du Canal, Courcouronnes, 91014, Evry, France

    Nadine Lasserre

  3. Hepatogastroenterology Unit, Centre Hospitalier Sud-Francilien, Quartier du Canal, Courcouronnes, 91014, Evry, France

    François Drouhin

Authors
  1. Andry Van de Louw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nadine Lasserre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. François Drouhin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Stéphane Thierry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lucien Lecuyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Daniel Caen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alain Tenaillon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andry Van de Louw.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Van de Louw, A., Lasserre, N., Drouhin, F. et al. Reliability of HemoCue in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Intensive Care Med 33, 355–358 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-006-0461-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-006-0461-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation