TEMPERATURE CORRECTION OF ARTERIAL BLOOD pH AND CO2 TENSION IN NEWBORN INFANTS: A NEW SOLUTION FOR AN OLD PROBLEM

The acid-base status and arterial blood gas change with temperature variation. To determine the changes in arterial pH and pC02, arterial blood samples of 50 neonates with different clinical conditions were examined at temperatures of 35 to 42°C with an increment of 0.5° C, which resulted in two nonlinear equations with perfect fit on data. The temperature correction factors of these equations, unlike factors of the previously proposed linear equations, are not, themselves, functions of temperature. The arterial pH increases by 0.014 to 0.015 units, and peo2 decreases by 4.15-4.35%, with a 1ºC drop in body temperature.