The clinical value of the haemoglobin concentration analysis (g/L) and the calculation of oxyhaemoglobin saturation (%) in an automatic blood gas analyser (ABL2, Radiometer A/S, Denmark).

This study was aimed to evaluate the accuracy and thereby the clinical value of the haemoglobin concentration (g/L) analysis and of the calculation of oxyhaemoglobin saturation (%) in a commonly used automatic blood gas analyser (ABL2, Radiometer A/S, Denmark). The measured and calculated values (ABL2) were compared to the readings obtained in a last generation haemoximeter (OSM3, Radiometer A/S, Denmark), which served as reference. The haemoglobin concentration measurements performed in the ABL2 apparatus showed an increasing underestimation of the true haemoglobin value at larger haemoglobin concentration values. This together with a poor correlation makes the analysis unsuitable for clinical use. The oxyhaemoglobin saturation values (%) obtained using the ABL2, however, had a good correlation to the corresponding values measured in the OSM3. It is suggested that the oxyhaemoglobin saturation value obtained in the ABL2 can be used clinically, e.g., for invasive control of pulsoximeters.