The performance of the ABL-90 FLEX blood gas analyzer was evaluated and compared with that of the different analyzers currently used in the laboratory. The characteristics evaluated were suitability for health care needs, analytic workability, and reliability of measurements. Reliability of measurements was evaluated through coefficients of variation and systemic errors. The Pearson coefficient and the Bland-Altman plot were used to evaluate the correlation and concordance between systems. Glucose (Glu), sodium (Na+), chloride, ionized calcium, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) did not fulfill the specifications of quality based on biological variability. The parameters methemoglobin (MetHb) and carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) showed poor correlation. The Bland-Altman plots met the specifications (except Na+ and Glu). The ABL-90 FLEX analyzer has some very useful characteristics for laboratories, making it possible to obtain basic determinations for the STAT section of clinical laboratory with a single instrument and 1 blood sample. The analytical characteristics evaluated gave enough satisfactory results for most of the parameters and displayed better analytic workability than current analyzers in use; therefore, the analyzer was accepted to report on all analytes tested.
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García-Payá et al. (2013) studied this question.