Arterial blood gas analysis of Inhabitants Healthy Adults at two levels of altitude in La Libertad ‐ Peru

Abstract

Arterial blood gas is a procedure that allows knowing the internal environment of a person through an arterial puncture; however, its results are different according to altitude and barometric pressure. The objective was to evaluate the differences in arterial blood gas (AGA) values of healthy adult inhabitants in Florencia de Mora (FM) at 115 and in Huamachuco (H) at 3164 meters above sea level. Descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative study. 114 samples were analyzed, made up of two independent groups that met the selection criteria, of 57 inhabitants each, during the months of April and May 2019. A GPS altimeter was used to determine the altitude level. International research guidelines were met. Of the 114, 64 (56%) were women and 50 (44%) were men, with a mean age in FM of 34 and 21 years in H. The pH corrected to the temperature was 7.412 in FM and 7.428 in H (p <0.001). The following means were obtained: PO2 in FM was 110.7 and in H was 69.9 mmHg (p<0.001); pCO2 in FM was 36.0 and in H 32.2 mmHg (p<0.001); HCO3- in FM was 23.12 and in H it was 21.37 mmol/L (p<0.001); BE (B), in FM it was 1.3 and in H it was -2.2 mmol/L (p<0.001); SatO2 in FM was 95.2 and in H 94.2% (p <0.001); A-aDO2 in FM was 35.8 and in H 41.2 mmHg (p<0.001); THbc in FM of 14.6 g/dL and in H of 15.5 g/dL (p<0.001); lactate in FM of 2.1 and in H of 2.4 mmol/L (p<0.001). There are significant differences when comparing AGA values. The 5th and 95th percentiles of the AGA obtained in the total population and according to sex of H.