Arterial Blood

[atalanta]

Why is it sometimes necessary to take arterial blood ? And why is it so dreadfully painful ? I was with my son in hospital the other day, and the doctors decided to take arterial blood. I think he would havebeen hurt less if they had decided to amputate his arm without an anaesthetic. And they only got one drop from the right side, so they did it all over again on the left. Same result, same awful agonies on his part. Is there not some other way to get the answers they must have been looking for, whatever they were ?

[jennyjoan]

Poor son.

[Sqad]

Usually, the reason for taking blood via an artery is for the examination of how well the lungs are oxygenating a patient in certain diseases, usually respiratory disorders.

It would be pointless examining the blood returning to the lungs (venous blood) if you wanted to know how the lungs were functioning. One would need to know at what state of oxygenation the blood was in coming away from the lungs (arterial blood)

I think that as arteries tend to be deeper structures and veins more superficial, the taking of arterial blood is more painful.

This is just a general answer, but if you gave us more information concerning your son's illness, we could perhaps be more helpful.

[atalanta]

My son ( an adult) has type 1 diabetes, but the reason he had been rushed to hospital was the fact that his throat had totally closed with inflammation of tonsils, salivary glands, etc, high fever, and he could not swallow a thing. Especially he could not swallow water or the antibiotics the doctors wanted him to take. He was certainly dehydrated, until he got the intravenous fluids, but why would oxygenation ( or not) of the blood be so informative in this case ? Can it ever be worth the agony ? Or a general anaesthetic ?

[Sqad]

Ah!.....much better question.

Your son might be in danger of an irreversible life threatening condition due to his diabetes upsetting his blood components and also hos level of oxygen in his blood due to "strangulation" (throat closing up)

I cannot think of a more necessary need for arterial gas analysis, than an obstruction caused by an infection coupled with Type 1 diabetes.

Giving him a general anaesthetic would have been like giving him the "kiss of death."

I am sure that he could have been given a local anaesthetic if necessary.

[atalanta]

The doctor knew it was painful - I do so wish he had offered a local anaesthetic. If my son had not been so tense and in so much pain, the doc might just have got some blood, and the procedure might have been worthwhile, instead of useless.

[Daffy6543]

It hurts more because they are 'going in blind' to find the artery due to it being deep in the wrist and obscured by tendons etc., they can't see it so there is a certain amount of guesswork, they know where it should be in relation to other wrist structures, but not everyone is built exactly the same :) some medical staff are good at it, others not so much.

[Daffy6543]

By the way, I have had literally dozens of arterial blood draws done on me and have never once been offered a local anaesthetic for it.