UMBILICAL-CORD BLOOD-GAS ANALYSIS - A COMPARISON OF 2 SIMPLE METHODS OF SAMPLE STORAGE

Umbilical cord vessel acid-base analysis is increasingly employed as a n end-point in the study of ante-partum and intra-partum care. Delay i n processing the sample can result in erroneous values as a result of gaseous diffusion and continuing metabolism. The effect of delay was i nvestigated for samples stored in heparinized syringes at room tempera ture and simultaneously stored samples in double clamped cord segments . Small, but statistically significant changes were seen for pH, base deficit and Pco(2) over 30 min. Storage in the syringe results in the most reliable values for pH and base deficit, whereas the cord segment s showed no changes in Po-2 and Pco(2).