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An arterial blood gas analysis is used by doctors to test the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels of the blood. The test also gives doctors a fair report on the pH balance of your blood. The blood gas analysis test is used mostly in emergency medical situations.
It is used to assess the level of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the blood as low oxygen levels could lead to serious damage to individual organ systems. There are several components to an arterial blood gas analysis, which include: oxygen content and saturation, haemoglobin, bicarbonate, pH of blood, and partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
These components help doctors get a complete analysis of the levels of different gases in the blood. The test results are essential for the effective treatment of several serious health conditions.
Doctors prescribe an arterial blood gas analysis commonly during pulmonology checkups of patients. Apart from that, this test is also commonly prescribed to patients who require emergency medical care as it helps doctors understand the blood gas composition of patients. This test is also used before putting patients on general anaesthesia as it is important for the risk assessment of patients to ensure they are safe to be put under.
There are seven individual components of an arterial blood gas analysis. Here is a list of each of the components and their normal ranges. The conditions that can be diagnosed using this test are also mentioned below.
Oxygen Content (O2CT): Unless the patient has pulmonary conditions or sleep apnea, the normal range of oxygen content in blood is over 95%. For patients with those conditions, the normal range can be as low as 90%.
Oxygen Saturation (O2Sat):The normal range of oxygen saturation in blood is between 95 to 100% in healthy adults. For patients with pulmonary conditions like COPD, the range can be lower.
Haemoglobin:The normal level of haemoglobin for adult men is 14 to 18 g/dl. The same for adult women is 12 to 16 g/dl.
Bicarbonate: The normal range of bicarbonate in blood is 22 to 29 mEq/L.
pH of blood: The normal pH range of blood is between 7.35 to 7.45.
Partial pressure of Oxygen: The normal range of partial pressure of oxygen in blood is 75 to 100 mm Hg.
Partial pressure of Carbon dioxide: The normal range of partial pressure of carbon dioxide in blood is between 35 to 45 mm Hg.
The procedure for performing an arterial blood gas analysis involves drawing blood from the arteries of the patient instead of the veins. As a prerequisite the sample must be collected by the referring doctor in a pre-heparinized (1000 IU/ML) disposable syringe and needle. The sample must not have any air bubbles and should be mixed gently 10 times. The needle also needs to be sealed with a rubber stopper while the sample is being collected.