Thanks for the reply. I don’t have medical knowledge so a bit of it was Greek, but I got most of it, ABG PaO@ being the biggest mystery (to me). Also, not sure what you meant by “routing issue.” (Hopefully, not meaning that the paperwork to obtain it is too challenging...*s*)
Sorry PaO2 —
ABGs measure three variables:
1. pH of blood (metabolic state)
2. PaO2 arterial tension of oxygen — does the patient have good oxygen exchange
3. PaCO2 — partial pressure of carbon dioxide — which gives us an idea of how the patient is ventilating
The single greatest medical challenge for *any* physician, is not medical. It is
a) paperwork
b) billing / collections
;-)