Capillary blood gas sampling at annual assessment – a service review

Changes in transcutaneous oxygen tension during capillary blood-gas sampling.

With a Radiometer TCM-1 oxygen monitor, we followed the fluctuations in transcutaneous oxygen tension (ptcO2) during capillary blood collection from a heel prick. Thirty premature infants who presented with some respiratory compromise showed unpredictably increased (43 of 125 observations) or decreased (82 of 125 observations) values during this blood-sampling process. The fluctuation exceeded ...

Neonate capillary blood gas reference values.

OBJECTIVES Because biological data are instrument-dependent and because technology has evolved over the last two decades, the published capillary blood reference values for blood gases, lactate, ionized calcium (iCa) and glucose may not reflect the present day situation. Hence, we report such values for healthy term neonates at 48 +/- 12 h of life. DESIGN AND METHODS The Institution Ethics Re...

Fetal blood sampling and gas exchange.

Capillary blood sampling: should the heel be warmed?

The hypothesis that capillary blood sampling is made easier by warming the heel was examined in a randomised, controlled trial of healthy newborn infants. Sampling was performed using an automated lancet with or without prior warming. The time taken to collect a standard volume of blood, the number of repeat procedures needed, and the infants' behavioural responses were measured. Eighty one pro...

Unpredictable fluctuations in transcutaneous pCO2 from capillary blood gas determinations.

Transcutaneous pCO2 electrode response time was optimized by use of a new electrode filling solution composed of NaCl/NaHCO3 electrolyte buffer (100 and 20 mmol/L, respectively) in an equivolume mixture of glycerol and water. The 95% response time to a step change in pCO2 was 49.9 +/- 2.8 s (mean +/- SD) when there was no spacer between the membrane and glass of the electrode. Use of this filli...