Evaluation of the agreement between a point-of-care lactate meter and a handheld laboratory analyzer in cats treated in emergency practice.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if there was agreement between a new point-of-care (POC) lactate analyzer and a handheld laboratory analyzer when measuring blood lactate concentration in cats. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: University veterinary teaching hospital. ANIMALS: Fifty-four cats that presented to an emergency service. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Lactate concentrations as measured by the handheld laboratory analyzer ranged from 0.3 to 15.4 mmol/L. Agreement analysis of the handheld laboratory analyzer and the POC lactate meter demonstrated a bias, -0.06 and limits of agreement ranging from -0.87 to 0.99 mmol/L. Regression analysis demonstrated a coefficient of determination (R) of 0.98. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study indicate that the POC lactate meter provided results that are in agreement with a handheld laboratory analyzer when measuring lactate in clinically ill patients.