Background: Point-of-care-testing (POCT) is an increasingly utilised form of blood testing in haematology. Advantages include convenience, ease of sampling and rapid availability of results. Full blood count (FBC) POCT analysers are relatively recent additions to the market and their utility is yet to be established.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the FBC results obtained by finger-prick (capillary blood) analysed on a POCT analyser, with FBC results obtained by venepuncture and analysed in the laboratory, in a variety of hospital patients.
Patients/Methods: One hundred individuals, who were to have a venous blood sample for their clinical care, volunteered to supply an additional finger-prick blood sample. Paired samples from the same individuals were obtained within two hours of each other to minimise some variables. The capillary samples were analysed using a Beckman-Coulter DxH 500 bench-top POCT analyser and venous whole blood sample were analysed using a Sysmex XN 20 FBC analyser.
Results: Comparable results were obtained for haemoglobin, white cell count and neutrophils; however platelet counts were underestimated by capillary POCT in this study, possibly due to pre-analytical variables.
Conclusions: The use of POCT for FBC analysis is promising although pre-analytical variables need to be minimised. Further research is required with a focus on patients with low counts, because the major clinical utility of POCT lies in this group.