Evaluation of a portable blood gas analyzer for pediatric interhospital transport

• Published in: The Journal of emergency medicine 1998-11, Vol.16 (6), p.871-874
• Main Authors: Bhatia, Narinder, Silver, Peter, Quinn, Cari, Sagy, Mayer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Gas Analysis - instrumentation; blood gas analyzer; Child; Child, Preschool; Critical Illness; Emergency and intensive care: infection, septic shock; Emergency Treatment - instrumentation; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Infant; Intensive care medicine; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; interhospital; Medical sciences; New York; Patient Transfer; portable; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; transport; Transportation of Patients
• ISSN: 0736-4679; 2352-5029
• DOI: 10.1016/S0736-4679(98)00101-2

We evaluated a portable blood gas analyzer for its speed, reliability, and usefulness during interhospital transportation of critically ill children in a prospective study. The accuracy of a portable blood gas analyzer (PBGA) was first established by comparing its results with values obtained from a standard blood gas analyzer. The speed, accuracy, and usefulness of the PBGA were then compared with those of standard analyzers at 10 referring hospitals during interhospital transportation of critically ill children. A highly significant linear correlation was demonstrated between values obtained using the PBGA and those derived from standard analyzers. The time required to obtain blood gas results was 2 min with the portable device, significantly less than the mean of 8.4 min ± 6.4 min (range 1–24 min) required to get results from the laboratory facilities of the referring hospitals. Modification of treatment or adjustment to mechanical ventilation was required in 30% of transported patients based on blood gas results obtained immediately before departure from the referring hospital. We conclude that a portable blood gas analyzer provides rapid, reliable, and useful data that help to determine therapy for critically ill children awaiting interhospital transport.