Abstract
Background
Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is vital in the emergency department. However, the accuracy and stability of some indicators in ABG analysis are debatable compared with venous ones. Disposable arterial blood syringe (DABS) usage is increasing in clinical practice. To compare the accuracy and stability of venous versus arterial blood results and newly emerging DABS versus traditionally used pre-heparinized syringe (PHS) results, we performed this study.
Methods
This retrospective study was performed at the emergency department of the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. Participants were divided into two groups PHS and DABS, from which venous and arterial blood was drawn and analyzed either in laboratory or ABG-analyzer. Blood sample results were compared by the Pearson correlation coefficient and t-test. By removing extreme results, the sensitivity analysis was conducted.
Results
A total of 500 patients (64.80% male) and 400 patients (65.25% male) were enrolled in PHS and DABS groups, respectively. Mean differences of blood sample results between venous and arterial from PHS group were: Potassium=0.318±0.396 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Sodium=2.902±2.709 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Chloride=–7.598±5.060 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Hemoglobin (Hb)=2.212±7.992 g/L (P<0.0001), Hematocrit (HCT)=1.269±2.861% (P<0.0001). Correlation coefficients were: Potassium=0.855 (P<0.0001), Sodium=0.850 (P<0.0001), Chloride=0.742 (P<0.0001), Hb=0.967 (P<0.0001), and HCT=0.955 (P<0.0001). Mean differences from DABS group were: Potassium=0.202±0.276 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Sodium=1.187±2.346 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Chloride=–5.336±6.116 mmol/L (P<0.0001), Hb=-0.898±9.998 g/L (P=0.073), HCT=–0.659±3.228% (P<0.0001). Correlation coefficients were: Potassium=0.923 (P<0.0001), Sodium=0.911 (P<0.0001), Chloride=0.688 (P<0.0001), Hb=0.951 (P<0.0001), and HCT=0.943 (P<0.0001). After sensitivity analysis, the same but more reliable results were observed.
Conclusion
High accuracy was seen in venous and arterial blood results irrespective of the usage of PHS or DABS for sample collection. DABS showed more accurate and stable results, suggesting its role for future medical use.