At Weqas, Education and Training is core to what we do, using our clinical knowledge, our experience in the analysis and interpretation of data, provides us with an unique opportunity to share and provide insight on performance improvements, technological advancements, market analysis and highlight areas where we don’t always get it right. Our recent article, featured in September’s edition of Pathology In Practice magazine provides an interesting insight of how blood gas analysis in the UK has changed over the last 20 years, both in terms of performance, and the shift outside the laboratory. Click the link below to read the article in full.

Evaluating pO2 Accuracy Using Commutable EQA Materials: A 20-Year Review

Ceri Parfitt

R&D Clinical Scientist

Annette Thomas

Director

 
Arterial blood gas analysis is an important part of the diagnosis and management of several health conditions, and is increasingly conducted at the point of care. With EQA paramount for such devices, Ceri Parfitt and Annette Thomas present a retrospective study examining the performance of laboratory and POC analysers.

Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is an essential component of assessment of critically and acutely ill patients in emergency departments and in intensive care units.1 Many wards and outpatient departments also use blood gas analysers in providing care to their patients, such as those with respiratory disease. ABG analysers provide a rapid assessment of patient oxygenation, acid-base balance and metabolic status, through measurement of partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) and carbon dioxide (pCO2), hydrogen ion and bicarbonate concentrations. As a result, conditions such as sepsis, respiratory failure and diabetic ketoacidosis can be quickly diagnosed and treated…

Read full article here

1. Castro D, Patil SM, Zubair M, Keenaghan M. Arterial Blood Gas. StatPearls Publishing; 2024 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536919