Comparative Study of ABO and RH Blood Grouping by Slide, Test Tube and Gel Card Methods

A Comparative study was carried out on 500 blood donors attending blood bank of a tertiary health care hospital in western UP over a period of 6 months from January 2016 to June 2016. Out of the 500 subjects; only 100 were tested using Gel card method while Slide and Tube methods were used for all cases. Among the subjects, 487 (97.4%) were males and 13 (2.6%) females within the age range of 18–60 years. 477 (95.4%) of the donors were found to be Rh positive while 23 (4.6%) were Rh negative. In comparison of the three methods, overall agreement between methods was good to excellent, with identical results obtained in 97 of 100 (97%) samples tested with all 3 methods. The little difference in 3 of 100 (3%) samples, which was due to the weak reaction between antigen-antibody in the 3 samples, was resolved with the aid of microscope which made the result 100% identical. Results acquired with Gel Card Methods were considered the simplest to interpret and could readily be archived by making a photocopy, which was not possible with the other methods. This study shows that Gel Card Method is better than Slide and Conventional Spin Tube Methods because of its simplicity, stability of results, reproducibility, absence of wash phase with comparable sensitivity and specificity.