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Abstract
Aim Measurement of lactate level is an essential tool in the clinical assessment of patients. Lactate levels greater than 2 mmol/L represent hyperlactataemia whereas lactic acidosis is generally defined as a serum lactate concentration above 4 mmol/L. The lactate level is most frequently measured in the arterial blood gas (ABG). Aim of this study is to evaluate the agreement of venous blood gas (VBG) lactate compared to ABG lactate.
Method Prospectively collected data from twenty patients were included in this study. All patients were admitted to the emergency department. ABG and three types of VBG samples were collected from each patient. To compare the VBG samples, processing was done in three different ways; VBG1 was held steady and analysed within 5 min, VBG2 was tilted for 5 min and analysed within 7 min, VBG3 was held steady and analysed after 15 min. ABG and VBG samples were compared using Bland-Altman plot.
Results The Bland-Altman plot showed narrow 95% limits of agreement and average differences in lactate of −0,24,–0,25 and −0,33 between ABG and VBG1–3, respectively.
Conclusion Venous blood lactate is a valid parameter when measuring the level of lactate. However larger studies are needed to further evaluate the reliability regarding patients with severe hyperlactataemia.
Conflict of interest None declared
Funding This study did not receive external funding.
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