The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Effects of four different methods of sampling arterial blood and storage time on gas tensions and shunt calculation in the 100% oxygen test.
At the present time, plastic syringes are most commonly used for collecting arterial blood. The oxygen tension of the arterial blood (Pa,O2) in these syringes may fall. We studied the effect of the type of syringe, metabolism, and storage time on the arterial oxygen pressures measured and on the pulmonary shunt calculated. ⋯ The pulmonary shunt was significantly overestimated when the "gold standard" blood gas results were not used (range 0.8-9.9%). Glass (not plastic) syringes should be used in the 100% oxygen test. The syringe should be cooled immediately, even when the sample is analysed as soon as possible.