Comparison of bicarbonate and base excess values analyzed by four different blood gas analyzers.

Comparison of the calculation formula, reproducibility, correlation and variation of bicarbonate ion concentration (HCO(3) (-)), and base excess value (BE) among four blood-gas analyzers was performed. No HCO(3) (-) and BE values calculated from the formulas showed any clinically significant difference, and all analyzers showed good correlation on their measurements. On the actual measurement of a specific sample, however, BE values from the same sample ranged between -6.3 and -15.7, which might affect therapeutic strategy. Caution should be taken for the assessment of data if different types of blood-gas analysis devices are used in the same facility.