RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Clinical Significance of Patient Specimen Transport Modality: Pneumatic Tube System Impact on Blood Gas Analytes JF Respiratory Care FD American Association for Respiratory Care SP respcare.04765 DO 10.4187/respcare.04765 A1 Louanne M Carabini A1 Jacob Nouriel A1 Ricardo Diaz Milian A1 Erin R Glogovsky A1 Robert J McCarthy A1 Thomas G Handler A1 Michael L Ault YR 2016 UL http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2016/08/09/respcare.04765.abstract AB INTRODUCTION: A pneumatic tube system (PTS) is a cost-effective, rapid transport modality that utilizes induced pressure changes. We evaluated the clinical importance of 2 transport modalities, human courier and PTS, for blood gas specimens.METHODS: Following open heart surgery, 35 simultaneous pairs of arterial and venous blood gas specimens were analyzed from 20 subjects. Of each pair, one specimen was transported to the blood gas laboratory via a human courier and the other via a SwissLog PTS. Transport modalities were compared using the Bland Altman limits of agreement method.RESULTS: Compared with the walked specimen, the bias for PaCO2 was −8.0 mm Hg (95% CI, −40.0 to 24.5 mm Hg); PaCO2, −0.94 mm Hg (95% CI, −3.76 to 1.86 mm Hg); PvO2, −0.60 mm Hg (95% CI, −6.90 to 5.70 mm Hg); PvCO2, −0.58 mm Hg (95% CI, −3.12 to 1.92 mm Hg) for the PTS specimen.CONCLUSION: The difference in the PO2 and PaCO2 of paired (walked vs tubed) arterial and venous blood gas specimens demonstrated a slight bias. PaCO2 values demonstrated the greatest bias, however not clinically important. Thus, PTS transport does not impact clinical interpretations of blood gas values.