Comparability of arterial and venous blood gas analysis parameters in life-threatened patient
A systematic review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2025.59.2.3283Keywords:
arterial blood sample, venous blood sample, similarity of parameter values, urgent patient conditionAbstract
Introduction: The assessment of metabolic, cardiovascular and respiratory status in a life-threatened adult patient is diagnosed by arterial blood gas analysis. This is also possible on the basis of a venous blood sample, the collection of which is less invasive for the patient. The aim of this literature review was to determine the comparability of pH, HCO₃, pCO₂, pO₂, Na, K and Cl values in the gas analysis of arterial and venous blood in a life-threatened adult patient.
Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of the literature in the CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library and Google Scholar international citation databases between 2014 to 2024. The following English-language search string was used: (life- threatened patient OR critically ill patient) AND (arterial blood gas OR venous blood gas OR VBG OR ABG) AND (compare OR difference). The quantitative studies included were assessed for quality, and the results were summarised descriptively.
Results: A total of 12 studies were included in the final analysis, which were rated as moderate and high quality according to the Joanna Briggs Institute appraisal tools. Eight studies showed a very strong comparability of the pH (r = 0.729 – 0.979) and HCO₃ (r = 0.7 – 0.97) parameters was found between arterial and venous blood samples. Weak and moderate comparability was found for the pCO₂ (r = 0.491 – 0.95), pO₂ (r = ‒0.027 – 0.34), Na (r = 0.652 – 0.92), K (r = 0.6 – 0.91) and Cl (r = 0.73–0. 94) parameters.
Discussion and conclusions: The research results show that the use of a venous blood sample is comparable for the analysis of pH and HCO₃ parameters. Further investigation of the comparability of the pCO₂, pO₂, Na, K and Cl parameters is suggested.
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