Help towards a better understanding of blood gas results

By comparison with other patient data generated in clinical laboratories, arterial blood gas results are commonly perceived by students and junior clinical staff to be among the most difficult to understand and interpret. Help is at hand. In a recent, easily comprehended article the authors provide a logical stepwise approach to interpreting arterial blood gas results. 

They use a set of blood gas results derived from a ”real-life” case vignette to illuminate the approach. The article is appealingly concise and brief, but despite this manages to convey a wealth of detail. 

Topics covered include: the use of pO₂(a) and FO₂(I) to identify hypoxemia and suggest its cause; the limitations of pulse oximetry; the identification and principal causes of the four disturbances of acid-base balance; the use of pCO₂(a) as a marker of ventilation; and the potential preanalytical errors associated with blood gas analysis. This is a useful short and concise learning tool for those who need to understand patient blood gas results.