Compatibility levels between blood gas analysis and central laboratory hemoglobin and electrolyte tests in pediatric patients: A single‐center experience

Introduction We aimed to evaluate the interchangeability of sodium, potassium, hemoglobin, and hematocrit measurement between the blood gas analyzers and laboratory automatic analyzers results. Methods This was a retrospective cross‐sectional study. The results of 1927 paired samples analyzed simultaneously with the blood gas analyzer and the laboratory automatic analyzer were compared. The Bland–Altman and Cohen's kappa statistic detected the agreement between the two analyses. Results The limits of agreement (±1.96 standard deviation of the mean difference) were −11.1 to 20.3 for sodium, −1.9 to 0.5 for potassium, −16.1 to 12.9 for hematocrit, and −5.0 to 4.0 for hemoglobin. Agreement between the two analyses was not acceptable within the defined clinically acceptable limits. In addition, none of the kappa values were higher than 0.60, which highlights the lack of agreement between the two analyzers. Conclusion The blood gas analyzers and laboratory automatic analyzers results cannot be used interchangeably.