Comparative study of Serum Electrolytes Analyzed on Electrolyte Analyzer and Auto Analyzer in an Emergency Laboratory of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Located in Central India

Abstract

Our aim is to determine whether the serum electrolytes (Sodium and Potassium) measured by two different methods on two different equipments are equivalent or not. This retrospective study was conducted over three months period (June 2017-August 2017). A total number of 300 patients from intensive care unit or in the different wards with a variety of diagnoses were enrolled in this study. Analysis of sodium and potassium levels in their serum was carried out using an electrolyte analyzer and an auto-analyzer. Statistical measures were applied using students paired t-tests. The Mean level (± standard deviation) of sodium measured by electrolyte analyzer was statistically significantly higher than the auto-analyzer values (139.99 ± 7.48 mmol/l and 137.15 ± 7.66 mmol/l respectively; P˂0.0001). Regarding the potassium levels, the Mean level (± standard deviation) measured by electrolyte analyzer was statistically significantly greater than that of potassium measured by auto-analyzer (4.290 ± 0.743 mmol/l and 4.147 ± 0.738 mmol/l respectively; p˂0.0001). Our results showed that serum electrolytes levels measured by electrolyte analyzer were higher than those measured by auto-analyzer. Differences obtained were statistically significant.