Evaluation of five portable blood glucose meters for use in dogs

Objective-To evaluate clinical and analytical accuracy of 5 portable blood glucose meters (PBGM) used to measure blood glucose concentrations in dogs and to determine potential sources of error. Design-Prospective study. Animals-221 dogs. Procedure-Venous blood samples were obtained, and results of the 5 PBGM wer e compared with results of a hexokinase reference method. Agree ment among methods was determined by use of error grid analysis and statistical method s. Results-Accuracy of the PBGM varied with glucose concentration of the sampl e. The largest differences between results of the PBGM and results of the r eference method were obtained with samples with high glucose concentrations ; 4 PBGM tended to underestimate and 1 PBGM tended to overestimate the true glucose concentration. Absolute differences between results of the PBGM an d results of the reference method were small for samples with low glucose c oncentrations and samples with concentrations in the reference range. None of the PBGM yielded measurements that would result in clinically unacceptab le errors. Within-run and between-day precision was good for all PBGM, and results were not affected by use of EDTA or heparin to anticoagulate blood. Readings of the PBGM were significantly higher for blood samples with low Hct than for samples with normal Hct. For 3 PBGM, samples < 3 mu l resulted in inaccurate measurements. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results suggest that currently available PBGM are sufficiently accurate for use in clinical practice to determine b lood glucose concentrations in dogs.