Comparison of capillary ear blood and arterial blood to validate capillary sampling as an accurate assay of blood gas in swine.

Capillary sampling in swine can be performed as an accurate assay of arterial blood gases. Studies with swine provided results similar to, or slightly more favorable than, those reported for human beings, depending upon which cutaneous technique was used on human beings. On the basis of free flow or arterilization of the cutaneous sample and of the correlation between capillary and arterial pH, CO2 partial pressure (PCO2), and O2 partial pressure (PO2) values, the capillary sampling technique of complete incisement of a 2-mm section from the tip of the warmed porcine ear could be a substitution technique for arterial blood sampling. Free flow with this technique was maximized and high correlation coefficients (r) for pH (r = 0.96), PCO2 (r = 0.82), and PO2 (r = 0.90) capillary-arterial values (n = 37) were obtained.