Role of venous blood gases in hypercapnic respiratory failure chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients presenting to the emergency department

Background Many patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) have type 2 respiratory failure (T2RF). Often arterial blood gases are not performed and correlation with venous blood gases (VBG) is controversial. The venous pH and bicarbonate (HCO 3 ) are useful, but VBG pCO 2 (PvCO 2 ) is considered too unpredictable. Aim To examine the utility of VBG in this cohort of patients. Methods A prospective study of...