Blood Gases
February 15th, 2021
Overview
Effects of Late Testing
- Ongoing cellular metabolism will occur as specimens are left without being tested.
- Decreased pO2 and increased pCO2 - due to ongoing metabolism
- Decreased pH - due to increase in pCO2
- Decreased calcium - due to increased binding to protein at a lower pH
- Increased glucose - due to glycolysis
- Increased lactate - due to glycolysis
Prevention
- Cool the sample to 0-4 degrees using ice if it is unlikely to be processed within 15 minutes.
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