METHOD OF OBTAINING ANAEROBIC ARTERIAL BLOOD SAMPLES FROM INFANTS

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Abstract
A SATISFACTORY method for obtaining anaerobic arterial blood samples from newborn infants requires at least the following conditions: 1. It must be safe. 2. The sampling must be sufficiently rapid to give blood values for any given half a minute or less. 3. Pain must be minimal so that crying can be avoided. 4. Repeated sampling on one infant should be possible. Arterial puncture is both safe and rapid in only a few experienced hands and repeated sampling is even less safe or sure. Crying is seldom avoided. Cutaneous bleeding from heel puncture frequently produces mixed blood and bleeding is almost always too slow to give an accurate picture of the state of the blood at a given moment. Crying is the rule. In addition, the usual method of collection under oil introduces further inaccuracies: oil slows the bleeding, absorbs a considerable amount of carbon dioxide, and is extremely difficult to exclude from pipettes. The present investigators have evolved a method which has proved satisfactory in about 50 consecutive cases. "Cutaneous" arterial blood is sampled from the foot, the site of puncture being over the soft tissue area containing the plexus of arterioles from the lateral malleolar artery (Fig. 1). Equipment Three pieces of equipment, easily made in any laboratory, are required: 1. As shown in Fig. 2, this consists of a 1" X 1" square of adhesive tape which has a centrally punched hole of ⅛" diameter, centered over which and sealed by rubber cement is a ¼" length of soft rubber tubing of ⅛" bore and 3/32" wall thickness.