Arterial blood gases

Blood gas analyses are an essential part of modern patient care. Although all blood gas instruments have pH, PCO2, and PO2 electrodes based on the same principles, instruments in current use vary greatly in design, operator dependence, and accuracy. For the clinician to obtain accurate and timely results there must be not only good instrumentation and laboratory techniques, but also reliable specimen collection and transport and data transmission. Dedicated personnel, duplicate instrumentation, frequent duplicate analyses of blood, blood tonometry, a good quality control system, and proficiency testing are advantageous. "Temperature correction" of the blood gas values by the laboratory to the patient's actual temperature is disadvantageous.