Reevaluation of the utilization of arterial blood gas analysis in the Intensive Care Unit: effects on patient safety and patient outcome.

Purpose: Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is a useful tool to evaluate hypercapnia in the context of conditions and diseases affecting the lungs. Oftentimes, indications for ABG analysis are broad and nonspecific and lead to frequent testing without test results influencing patient management.

Materials And Methods: Electronic charts of 300 intensive care unit (ICU) patients at a single institution were reviewed retrospectively.