Is routine ordering of both hemoglobin and hematocrit justifiable?
IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE VALUE OF ROUTINE SIMULTANEOUS HEMOGLOBIN AND HEMATOCRIT DETERMINATIONS, PAIRED DETERMINATIONS IN THE FOLLOWING GROUPS WERE STUDIED: (1) 360 consecutive pairs from the hematology laboratory, (2) 95 pairs on general medical patients, (3) 43 pairs on 10 patients with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and (4) 62 pairs on 10 patients with burns. These values were plotted on scatter diagrams. In the 560 pairs only three disparate determinations were found.It is concluded that, in most clinical situations, determination of the hemoglobin or the hematocrit as a screening procedure provides as much useful information as the simultaneous determination of both.
D002056:Burns / Q000175:diagnosis; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006801:Humans
D006454:Hemoglobins