TWR Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Is there any where other than a finger that a diabetic could use to access blood for a glucometer? I seem to remember an add with BB King touting a glucometer and he was getting blood from the forearm. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Google "An Analysis of Alternate Site Tests to Improve Patient Compliance with Self-Monitoring of Blood GLucose" by Jeanne Jacoby published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. Palm of the hand or possibly the forearm are acceptable. Other sites can be used as well but apparently the result is most reliable in the fingertips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted July 8, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 8, 2015 if not taking insulin, I don't have my patients checking BS routinely - whats the point? if feel crappy, or something off, sure check, but if no insulin no real value to routine checks, then if only when needed do the finger tip as most the alternative sites say that they should not be use for widely variable BS (last time I looked many years ago) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeOuttaThisMess Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 This is why God created the HbA1c. VA had all their folks checking for whatever the reason, and this particular one was associated with a local medical school! Made no sense to me and I explained rationale as to why not to check them. Pt's loved it (not checking)! Again, this is for T2DM pt's, not T1DM. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinkertdm Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Many patients AND providers think there is a need for non-insulin using patients to check daily. If they are not using any hypoglycemic causing agents, then it is literally pointless. How many providers check the logs the patient brings in, say "I see you are dropping a bit mid-afternoon, why don't you keep your metformin dose the same". Also, I've had zero patients actually bring in their logs. However, if the patient has no fingers, or for some reason the fingers he does have are not amenable to being stuck, the forearm could be useful. (again, only if you or the patient is going to do something with the data). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spflynn4 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 The main factor that influences the sites that can be used is the meter itself. Older meters require a larger volume of blood to get a reading, so it can be hard to get enough blood out of a forearm to get a reading. The most common site in the newest generation of meters is the forearm, but I've also heard of people using fingers, palms, and even toes (although the toe is hard to clean and frowned upon). I've been hearing about new, non-lancet driven blood sugar technologies (sensors connected to insulin pumps or stand alone), but none seem to be able to reliably measure blood sugars with NO backup by a traditional blood sugar testing meter. (I'm actually a Pre-PA, but I'm a longtime insulin dependent diabetic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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