Quality control (QC) of blood gases is an essential and obligatory aspect of a laboratory’s quality plan. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) requires verified assayed QC ranges. For a study, researchers sought to show tested QC mean and 2 SD range verification results from a blood gas analyzer. They compared the manufacturer’s mean and ranges to QC data from a blood gas analyzer. To assess agreement, the percentage difference between the measured mean and the manufacturer-provided mean was determined. The manufacturer-provided ranges were compared to the measured SD to see how far apart they were. The most significant difference in mean values was 2.27% above the manufacturer’s mean. A difference of 0% was found in 48% of all mean value comparisons, while a difference of less than 1% was found in 71%. The manufacturer’s ranges ranged from 2.4 to 75 SD and were far broader than the measured 2 SD range. None of the degrees provided by the manufacturer was deemed suitable for clinical usage. The outcomes supported the CLIA mandate and the American Association for Respiratory Care Clinical Practice Guideline recommendations that laboratories verify manufacturer-provided QC means and ranges and adapt them to fit the performance of their blood gas analyzer.
Source:rc.rcjournal.com/content/67/4/428
