New creatinine sensor for point-of-care testing of creatinine meets the National Kidney Disease Education Program guidelines.

Addition of the measurement of creatinine concentration in whole blood on the ABL837 FLEX blood gas analyzer (Radiometer Medical ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark) allows fast and reliable reporting of creatinine in point-of-care testing (POCT). The new creatinine sensor follows the international recommendations of the National Kidney Disease Education Program Laboratory Working Group as of January 2006 with respect to acceptable performance, reference method and traceability. Validation tests show that the creatinine sensor has excellent performance and thus has the potential to change the poor track record of creatinine testing in plasma and whole blood in both the clinical laboratory and POCT. This article describes the clinical needs and the methods currently available for creatinine measurement and presents performance tests carried out by the manufacturer.