Comparing two methods to obtain blood specimens from pediatric central venous catheters

The purpose of this study was to test agreement in blood values obtained from a discard method and a push-pull method in samples from central venous catheters in pediatric patients. The discard method causes blood loss beyond what is necessary for blood testing and increases potential for infection each time the central venous catheter is entered. Twenty-eight children ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years were enrolled in the study. A research protocol was developed to pair the 2 methods of blood collection for each sample. The Bland-Altman method was used to test agreement on each blood value for each paired sample. Of the 438 pairs of measured blood values, 420 (95.9%) fell within the limits of agreement. Nurses reported no difficulty in using the push-pull technique to obtain any samples. The push-pull method of obtaining blood specimens from pediatric central venous catheters should be considered. It can eliminate blood loss through discard and can reduce infection because it reduces the number of times a catheter is entered.