Comparative Analysis of Capillary Blood INR Using CoaguChek XS POC and Conventional Coagulation Blood Tests

Millions of patients globally are administered anticoagulants like acenocumarol and warfarin to prevent serious thrombotic events such as strokes and heart attacks. Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have been the cornerstone of oral anticoagulant therapy for over five decades. However, their clinical use is complicated by significant variability in patient dose responses due to genetic mutations and interactions with other medications and diet. This necessitates frequent laboratory monitoring, which can be time-consuming and inconvenient for patients. The advent of point-of-care (POC) devices now allows for the measurement of the International Normalized Ratio (INR) in outpatient settings and even at home. Nevertheless, earlier studies have reported statistically significant discrepancies between INR values obtained from clinical laboratories and those from POC meters, leaving the accuracy of these devices contentious. This study aims to evaluate INR results from the CoaguChek XS meter in comparison to those obtained through chronometric assays on a laboratory coagulometer, the Sysmex S 2000i.