Interview Fetal scalp Blood Sampling (FBS) – not exactly wishful thinking for the mother, nor for the obstetrician? The procedure is regarded as cumbersome, the sample quality is questionable and the consequences of the result may be instrumental vaginal delivery or Cesarian Section (CS). acutecaretesting.org has...

Reprinted with permission from Elsevier from "Neonate capillary blood gas reference values", by Jocelyne Cousineau, Suzanne Anctil, Ana Carceller, Monique Gonthier and Edgard E. Delvin, CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY, Vol no 38, 2005, pp 905-907. Copyright 2005 by Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. OBJECTIVES Because...

Massive hemorrhage is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among critically ill patients. Conventional treatment is based on surgical control of bleeding and transfusion of blood products including red cells, platelets and fresh frozen plasma. Despite optimal conventional care, bleeding sometimes proves impossible ...

Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying protein contained in red blood cells (erythrocytes). Although normally present in only trace amounts, there are three species of hemoglobin that cannot transport oxygen.  The three species, collectively called dyshemoglobins because of their functional redundancy, are methemoglobin,...

The collection of arterial specimens with glass syringes and immediate storage in iced water was the accepted industry standard for many years. Practice has changed over the past several years to blood gas sample collection in plastic syringes, likely due to the cost, safety and convenience of plastic. This change ...

Iatrogenic phlebotomy loss resulting from the intensive clinical monitoring in the weeks immediately following birth remains the primary cause of neonatal anemia and the need for red-blood-cell (RBC) transfusion. Reducing RBC transfusion needs in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) requires new approaches for...

Lack of homogeneity of a blood sample can lead to incorrect results. In this paper, the quality requirements of a sample prior to mixing, the type of samples, sample collection devices and tools and mechanics of mixing will be highlighted. Issues related to the mixing of samples intended for hematological and blood...

Pulmonary embolus (PE) results in a mismatch between alveolar perfusion and ventilation, with potential for development of hypoxemia (reduced pO₂) and hypocapnia (reduced pCO₂), so that arterial blood gases (ABG) are frequently ordered for patients either suffering or suspected of suffering PE.  Is it possible to make ...

If the results of a "‘small snapshot survey" are representative, then there is a need for continued education of UK medical staff in the interpretation of arterial blood gas (ABG) results. Sixty-six medical staff of all grades and from a range of disciplines, all working at one hospital, were asked to complete a...

During air travel more than a half of all passengers suffer a degree of hypoxemia that might trigger prescription of supplemental oxygen therapy if it occurred in hospitalized patients. That is the finding of a recent study which sought to establish the effect that air travel has on measured oxygen saturation.  When...