Nationwide harmonization of clinical laboratory practice is a stated strategic goal of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CSMBLM). In 2013, a CSMBLM working group conducted a nationwide survey of all aspects of blood gas testing practice in Croatian hospital laboratories.  This...

It is commonplace for clinical staff tasked with blood sample collection to ask patients to make a fist before venipuncture; it reportedly helps by making veins more visible. Patients may also be asked to maintain a clenched fist during the procedure. This practice of ”fist clenching” is sanctioned in phlebotomy...

Blood gas analysis, which involves measurement of three parameters: blood pH, pCO₂ and pO₂, is almost unique among routine blood tests in its requirement for arterial blood. All other blood tests are performed on venous blood or occasionally, capillary blood. Collection of arterial blood is technically more demanding ...

Blood gas analysis provides the means for assessing patient oxygenation status by measurement of two parameters: the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (pO₂(a)) and % oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood (sO₂(a)). Most accurate reflection of in vivo pO₂(a) and sO₂(a)  requires that measurement...

Blood gas analysis involves measurement of three parameters: pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) and partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂). Derived (calculated from these measured values) parameters also generated during blood gas analysis include: bicarbonate (HCO₃) concentration, base excess (BE) and oxygen...

The process of blood gas and pH measurement involves preheating the arterial blood sample to normal body temperature (37 °C) prior to measurement of pH, partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂). This ensures that results reflect in vivo temperature condition. A minority of...

The significance of good practice during the preanalytical phase of clinical laboratory investigation cannot be overemphasized. One aspect of the preanalytical phase – the transport of samples – is considered here; in particular the transport of samples via pneumatic tube systems. This is an update of a previous...

Sampling capillary blood from the fetal scalp during labor of pregnancy, in order to determine its pH, was introduced to obstetric care in the late 1960s.  Despite current skepticism surrounding its utility, most notably in the US, fetal-scalp blood sampling (FSBS) is still considered a useful fetal monitoring test...

Since the inception of blood gas analysis, heparin has been the anticoagulant of choice for preparation of samples. Historically, syringes used to collect arterial blood for gas analysis were prepared ”in house” by aspirating a small volume of liquid heparin (LH) and then expelling it. The thin film of liquid heparin...

Arterial blood is the “gold standard” sample for blood gas analysis. Compared with venous blood sampling, arterial blood sampling is technically more difficult as well as being more painful and hazardous to the patient. These are among the considerations that drive the continuing research interest in establishing...