Performance evaluation of all analytes on the epoc® Blood Analysis System for use in hospital surgical and intensive care units

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the epoc hand-held analyzer against the RAPIDPoint 500 blood gas analyzer and laboratory analyzers where applicable. METHODS: Venous or arterial whole blood samples collected in balanced heparinized syringes were obtained from 69 patients (35 females, 34 males) predominantly (77%) from the surgical unit and intensive care unit (ICU). Method comparison was performed for all analytes on the epoc System against the RAPIDPoint 500 Blood gas analyzer or laboratory analyzers where applicable. Results: Mean bias was <5% for blood gases, electrolytes, lactate and glucose. Hematocrit showed a bias of -6.76% (95% CI ​= ​-8.91, - 4.61) compared to the HemataSTAT-II method, whereas calculated total hemoglobin showed a bias of 1.51% (95% CI ​= ​-1.04, 4.06) against the Sysmex XN-10 hematology analyzer. Creatinine showed the largest bias relative to laboratory analyzers, Abbott Architect c8000 Jaffe method (13.54%, 95% CI ​= ​5.43, 21.65) and Roche Cobas c702 enzymatic method (30.01%, 95% CI ​= ​12.64, 47.38). Conclusions: The epoc system is fit for use in the surgical and ICU setting for the measurement of all analytes except for creatinine.