The effect of different forms of heparin on point-of-care blood gas analysis

South African Medical Journal = Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif Vir Geneeskunde
P Sandler, L N Goldstein

Abstract

Point-of-care blood gas analysis plays an integral role in the management of critically ill and injured patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). While the use of specially manufactured syringes containing electrolyte-balanced dried heparin is recommended when processing these specimens, alternatives including manually self-prepared syringes washed with liquid heparin or heparin vacutainers are still often used. To assess the effect of two concentrations of liquid heparin and the use of heparin vacutainers on the reliability of blood gas analysis results compared with the recommended standard of dried heparin syringes in the ED setting. Blood samples were drawn from 54 patients attending a tertiary-level hospital ED. Individual samples were distributed equally among each of four different collection devices: a dried heparin syringe, self-prepared syringes washed separately with 1 000 IU/mL and 5 000 IU/mL liquid heparin, and a heparin vacutainer. Results obtained from the standard dried heparin syringes were compared with those from the other three methods. For both the liquid heparin cohorts, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), ionised calcium (iCa2+) and haemoglobin had >20%...Continue Reading

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