Introduction. Arterial blood gas (ABG) analyses have an important role in the
assessment and monitoring of the metabolic and oxygen status of patients with
acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Arterial
puncture could have a lot of adverse effects, while sampling of venous blood
is simpler and is not so invasive. Objective. The aim of this study was to
evaluate whether venous blood gas (VBG) values of pH, partial pressure of
carbon dioxide (PCO2), partial oxygen pressure (PO2), bicarbonate (HCO3), and
venous and arterial blood oxygen saturation (SO2) can reliably predict ABG
levels in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. Methods. Forty-seven
patients with a prior diagnosis of COPD were included in this prospective
study. The patients with acute exacerbation of this disease were examined at
the General Hospital EMS Department in Prijepolje. ABG samples were taken
immediately after venous sampling, and both were analyzed. Results. The
Pearson correlation coefficients between arterial and venous parameters were
0.828, 0.877, 0.599, 0.896 and 0.312 for pH, PCO2, PO2, HCO3 and SO2,
respectively. The statistically significant correlation between arterial and
venous pH, PCO2 and HCO3, values was found in patients with acute
exacerbation of COPD (p<0.001). Conclusion. When we cannot provide arterial
blood for analysis, venous values of the pH, Pv,CO2 and HCO3 parameters can
be an alternative to their arterial equivalents in the interpretation of the
metabolic status in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD, while the
values of venous Pv,O2 and Sv,O2 cannot be used as predictors in the
assessment of oxygen status of such patients.
Prediction of Arterial Blood Gas Values from Venous Blood Gas Values in Patients with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
