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Blood Gas Measurement and Interpretation

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Respiratory Disease and its Management

Part of the book series: Competency-Based Critical Care ((CBCC))

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Abstract

Arterial blood gas (ABG) measurements commonly guide therapy in Intensive Care and High Dependency Units and require a full under-standing for accurate interpretation. Robust elec-trodes provide precise values for pH, PaCO2 and PaO2 and calculated values of HCO3 -, base excess and anion gap are extremely useful. From these, it is possible to identify and describe any distur-bance in acid—base status. Hypoxaemia due to lung pathology can be distinguished from pure hypoventilation through calculation of the alveolar—arterial oxygen gradient. A clinical approach to the system-atic assessment of arterial blood gas measurements is suggested and controversies relating to tempera-ture correction, suitability of capillary samples and pulse oximetry are discussed.

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Further Reading

  1. Henderson LJ. Blood. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 1928.

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  2. Williams AJ. Assessing and interpreting arterial blood gases and acid—base balance. BMJ. 1998;317: 1213–1126.

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  3. Slogoff S, Keats AS, Arfund C. On the safety of radial artery cannulation. Anaesthesiology. 1983;59:42–47.

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  4. Siggaard Andreson O, Engel R, Jorgensen K, Astrup P. A micro method for determination of pH, carbon dioxide tension, base excess and standard bicarbo-nate in capillary blood. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 1960;12:172–176.

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  5. Severinghouse JW, Astrup P, Murray JF. Blood gas analysis and critical care medicine. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1998;157 (4):5114–5122.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lane-Fox Respiratory Unit and Sleep Disorders Centre, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK

    Adrian J. Williams

Authors
  1. Adrian J. Williams
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    A. McLuckie

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Williams, A.J. (2009). Blood Gas Measurement and Interpretation. In: McLuckie, A. (eds) Respiratory Disease and its Management. Competency-Based Critical Care. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-095-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-095-1_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-094-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-095-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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