The sedimentation rate of erythrocytes (ESR) is a laboratory method which has proven its usefulnes in dolphin medicine. The rate of sedimentation reflects the amount of inflammation markers
present in the serum. ESR is therewith a sensitive method for detecting any inflammatory reaction in the body. Usually, this test was performed by an external laboratory, since it required some processing of the
blood sample and specialised equipment.
Although the test itself takes only one hour, the results from the laboratory often take longer than this.
Now, a standardized and simple-to-use ESR device has become
available. It consists of special blood sampling vials which simultaneously are the sedimentation vials, and a rack for these vials.
This set allows to perform the ESR “in-house” and have the result of this test
within one hour. Some facilities holding odontocetes use this method for a regular preventive check-up of their animals, since ESR increases are more reliable than WBC counts and many other parameters in dolphins. Among
other advantages, ESR can not be influenced by stress, which makes it very suitable for evaluating stranded animals as well.
The blood sampling vials with Luer adapters and the rack are available from
