AIMS it is now recommended that cord blood acid-base measurement is performed routinely at time of delivery in the UK as a measure of fetal response to labour. However, there remains some uncertainty about the value of this procedure. In this paper our experience of cord blood analysis is described and the literature is reviewed to: (1) provide an overview of the physiological basis of cord blo...

We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library database for articles published between January 1990 and December 2012. The update of this clinical practice guideline is based on 237 clinical trials, 54 reviews, and 23 meta-analyses on blood gas analysis (BGA) and hemoximetry. The following recommendations are made following the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluati...

Many years ago, I was asked to evaluate a method developed by Dr. William T. Lipscomb for teaching blood gas analysis of acid-base status. Dr. Lipscomb was a Professor in the Department of Physiology of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine during my graduate student days and served as a teaching mentor to myself and several other graduate students for our first physiology lectures. Dr...

This is the first of a two-part unit on arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis, and focuses on background information and basic interpretation of ABGs where no evident compensation is taking place. It discusses the various components on an ABG report, the normal ranges and the significance of abnormal readings. A detailed step-by-step guide to ABG interpretation is available in the Portfolio Pages f...

The effect of temperature, time of storage, and presence of air bubbles in specimens for blood gas analysis was studied. The results show that air bubbles in a 10% proportion are undesirable because of significant elevation in the PO2, and the storage of anaerobic blood samples at room temperature (25 degrees C) is acceptable when measurements are done within the first 20 minutes.

Arterial blood gas sampling is a very important investigation in the assessment of a patient’s acidbase status and oxygenation in acute and chronic bronchial asthma. It is the gold standard test which measures amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as the pH of the blood while it also evaluates the effective delivery of oxygen to the blood by the lungs and effective elimination of the car...

Fetal blood gas analysis (FBGA) using scalp blood is commonly used to identify serious fetal distress. However, there is a lack of data regarding its accuracy and reliability. The aim of this study was to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of FBGA for predicting postpartum acidosis in case of nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracings (NRFHRT). To thi...

Ocular blood flow in dogs was monitored loith the use of a specially designed photoelectric plethysmograph transducer. The ocular pulse waves demonstrated were (1) of low amplitude, (2) coincident with cardiac systole, and (3) rapidly affected by stimuli known to influence cerebral blood flow. Changes in ocidar pulse amplitude correlated ivith concurrent blood gas analyses (arterial COi and O!)...

Demanded by modern medical diagnosis, advances in microfabrication technology have led to the development of fast, sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors for clinic analysis. This review addresses the principles behind electrochemical sensor design and fabrication, and introduces recent progress in the application of electrochemical sensors to analysis of clinical chemicals such as blo...

Point-of Care analysis is increasingly being applied in the prehospital scene. Arterial blood gas analysis is one of many new initiatives adding to the diagnostic tools of the prehospital physician. In this paper we present a study on the feasibility of the Radiometer ABL-90 in a ground-based Mobile Emergency Care Unit and report on some clinical situations in which the apparatus has proven ben...