Comparative Study of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Using Trisodium Citrate, Normal Saline and Whole Blood in Ethylene Di Amine Tetra Acetic Acid (EDTA)

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was carried out on 200 apparently healthy individuals (131 males and 69 females) in Ekpoma using trisodium citrate, normal saline diluents and whole blood suspension in EDTA without any diluents. The Westergren method was adopted for this study as recommended by the International Committee for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH). The tests were read at 30 minutes and 1 hour intervals and results recorded as mm in 30mins and mm in 1hr respectively. The Mean ± SD of ESR values in males using trisodium citrate and normal saline were 11.99±9.48 and 12.12±9.46, while for females it was 13.69±8.5 and 13.97±8.97 respectively. This difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05). There was also a statistically significant difference between the ESR values obtained using trisodium citrate and whole blood (P< 0.05). Males had lower ESR values compared to females. There was a statistically significant difference between the ESR values obtained in 30mins and 1hour (P< 0.05). In conclusion, the use of normal saline and whole blood cannot be a good substitute for trisodium citrate in estimating ESR. Secondly, ESR is time dependent; therefore, the conventional time of 1 hour should be maintained. @ JASEM