Using venous blood gas analysis in the assessment of COPD exacerbations: a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Identifying acute hypercapnic respiratory failure is crucial in the initial management of acute exacerbations of COPD. Guidelines recommend obtaining arterial blood samples but these are more difficult to obtain than venous. We assessed whether blood gas values derived from venous blood could replace arterial at initial assessment.

Methods

Patients requiring hospital treatment for an exacerbation of COPD had paired arterial and venous samples taken. Bland-Altman analyses were performed to assess agreement between arterial and venous pH, CO2 and HCO3-. The relationship between SpO2 and SaO2 was assessed. The number of attempts and pain scores for each sample were measured.

Results

234 patients were studied. There was good agreement between arterial and ven

SUBMITTER: McKeever TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4789825 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature