Objective:  The objective of this study was to compare the arterial blood gas results obtained using syringes heparinized with liquid heparin and syringes containing lyophilized balanced heparin.

Study Design: Comparative cross sectional.

Place and Duration: This study was conducted in the Chemical Pathology department at Combined Military Hospital, Lahore for a period of six months from November 2022 to March 2023.

Methodology: A total of 100 arterial blood samples were taken from 50 patients admitted in ICU using a regular plastic syringe flushed with 5000 IU/ mL liquid heparin and another containing lyophilized heparin. Samples were analyzed immediately after collection on Roche Cobas b121 ABG analyzer. Three of the measured parameters (pH, pCO2 and pO2) were then compared among both syringe groups. pH, pO2 and pCO2 were compared using mean difference.

Results: The difference of means for pH was insignificant (p- Value >0.05). But pCO2 and pO2 showed significant difference in means with p- Values <0.05 (0.007 and 0.037, respectively). Bland Altman plots were also plotted for all three parameters. 12% of the pH values, 8% pco2 and 6% pO2 values exceeded the total allowable error.

Conclusion: Arterial blood pH was comparable between the two types of syringes used. The pCO2 and pO2 differed significantly and where found to be lower in blood samples collected in the liquid heparin syringes.

Keywords: Liquid Heparin, Lyophilized Heparin, Arterial Blood Gas, pH, pO2, pCO2.

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