Comparison of time taken to obtain an arterial blood gas result at the bedside using the ProximaTM point of care machine vs. a standard remote arterial blood gas analyser: A randomized controlled trial

Kay Mitchell; Karen E Salmon; David Egbosimba; Gavin Troughton; Mike Pw Grocott

doi:10.1177/1751143720973847

Comparison of time taken to obtain an arterial blood gas result at the bedside using the Proxima^TM point of care machine vs. a standard remote arterial blood gas analyser: A randomized controlled trial

J Intensive Care Soc. 2022 May;23(2):95-102. doi: 10.1177/1751143720973847. Epub 2020 Dec 6.

Authors

Kay Mitchell^{1

2

3

4}, Karen E Salmon^{1

2

4}, David Egbosimba⁵, Gavin Troughton⁵, Mike Pw Grocott^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Critical Care Research Area, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, UK.
² NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital Southampton National Health Service Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
⁴ Centre for Human Integrative Physiology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
⁵ Sphere Medical Limited, Cambridge, UK.

Abstract

Introduction: The Proxima^TM point of care (POC) device enables arterial blood gas (ABG) samples to be analysed without the nurse leaving the patient. The benefits of this for work efficiency have not been evaluated.

Methods: We compared the time taken to obtain an ABG result using Proxima^TM versus a standard ABG sampling system. Twenty patients were randomized to ABG sampling using Proxima^TM, or a standard ABG system. Nurses were observed performing all ABG sampling episodes for a minimum of 24 hours and no more than 72 hours.

Results: The mean time taken to obtain a result using Proxima^TM was 4:56 (SD = 1:40) minutes compared to 6:31 (SD = 1:53) minutes for the standard ABG technique (p < 0.001). Mean time away from the patient's bedside was 3.07 (SD = 1:17) minutes using the standard system and 0 minutes using Proxima^TM (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Reduced time for blood gas sampling and avoidance of time away from patients may have significant patient safety and resource management implications, but the clinical and financial significance were not evaluated.

Keywords: Blood specimen collection; critical care; point of care technology; time and motion studies.