Impact of blood collection devices and mode of transportation on peripheral venous blood gas parameters

Peripheral venous blood (PVB) gas analysis has become an alternative to arterial blood gas (BG) analysis in assessing acid-base balance. This study aimed to compare the effects of blood collection devices and modes of transportation on peripheral venous BG parameters.

PVB-paired specimens were collected from 40 healthy volunteers into blood gas syringes (BGS) and blood collection tubes (BCT), transported by either a pneumatic tube system (PTS) or human courier (HC) to the clinical laboratory, and compared using a two-way ANOVA or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. To determine clinical significance, the PTS and HC-transported BGS and BCT biases were compared to the total allowable error (TEA).

PVB partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂), fractional oxyhemoglobin (FO₂Hb), fractional deoxyhemoglobin (FHHb), and oxygen saturation (sO₂) showed statistically significant differences between BGS and BCT (p < 0.0001). Compared to HC-transported BGS and BCT, statistically significant increases in pO₂, FO₂Hb, sO₂, oxygen content (only in BCT) (all p < 0.0001), and base excess extracellular (only in BCT; p < 0.0014) concentrations and a statistically significant decrease in FHHb concentration (p < 0.0001) were found in BGS and BCT delivered by PTS. The biases between PTS- and HC-transported BGS and BCT exceeded the TEA for many BG parameters.

Collecting PVB in BCT is unsuitable for pO₂, sO₂, FO₂Hb, FHHb, and oxygen content determinations.