Investigating Promising Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Pleural Effusion: Assessment of Bedside Glucometer Accuracy for Pleural Fluid Glucose Versus Standard Laboratory and Blood Gas Analyser Methods

Despite recent advancements, the incidence of complicated parapneumonic pleural effusion (CPPE) has risen significantly, leading to delays in diagnosis, increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs.Timely identification is crucial, as antibiotics alone are inadequate, requiring prompt placement of an intercostal chest drain (ICD). Guidelines highlight the predictive role of pleural fluid pH in complex cases, strongly correlated with glucose levels.In scenarios where immediate or accurate pH measurement for suspected CPPE is unavailable, bedside detection of low pleural fluid glucose (PFG) levels may indicate high risk, prompting early ICD placement to avoid delays. Literature on Point-of-Care (POC) PFG assessment is limited. Only one study has evaluated bedside PFG using a glucometer (Glu-PFG), showing a promising correlation with laboratory-measured glucose levels (Lab-PFG). Its reliability compared to blood gas analyzer-measured PFG (BGA-PFG) remains unexplored. Our study aims to assess the accuracy of a glucometer versus laboratory and BGA methods in measuring PFG levels in patients with PE.