Comparison of blood collection tubes for blood glucose testing in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

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This study will see if ‘new’ blood tubes (citrate tubes) are better than the ‘usual’ tubes (fluoride tubes) to test glucose levels. All pregnant women are offered a test for gestational diabetes (GDM) at 24-28 weeks. This is usually with a glucose challenge test (GCT) and / or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). At present, we collect blood samples for these tests into fluoride tubes. We know that glucose levels may fall in the fluoride tubes in the first hour after the blood is taken. This is important, as there is usually a slight delay between blood collection and laboratory testing of glucose levels. This can result in the measured glucose level being lower than it really is in the body. We might then miss some women with GDM who have a falsely ‘normal’ result. In non-pregnant people, the ‘new’ citrate tubes give results that are more accurate. No one has studied the ‘new’ tubes in pregnancy. We will compare the ‘new’ citrate and ‘usual’ fluoride tubes with a third way of testing glucose that measures the glucose level straight after the blood sample is taken. This third way of testing glucose is the best, but it is not in everyday use as it takes a lot of time to do properly. We think that the new citrate tubes will be better at detecting GDM than the current system. Missed and untreated cases of GDM can harm the baby. If we show that the ‘new’ citrate tubes are better, then changing to these tubes could mean that we miss fewer women with GDM in the future.

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