Ensuring adequate oxygen delivery to tissues is a prime objective of acute/critical medical care. There is no routinely available method for directly monitoring tissue oxygenation; instead clinicians must depend on available indirect measures. Although not the only factor to be considered, measurement of the amount of ...

Metformin is a widely prescribed oral antihyperglycemic drug for the long-term treatment of type 2 diabetes. It is considered a first-line drug treatment for those diabetic patients whose blood glucose remains uncontrolled by dietary and other lifestyle interventions. In addition to this established use, metformin has ...

Plasma bicarbonate concentration (HCO₃^-), an essential parameter for the assessment of patient acid-base status, is routinely generated during blood gas analysis by calculation from measured pH and pCO₂. It is also directly measured by chemical analyzers in clinical laboratories that offer bicarbonate as one component ...

In high-level athletes preparation, using point-of-care testing (POCT) in sports-specific environments, we tried to define and control the levels of exercise intensities (“energy training zones”), to quantify metabolic functionality (sports-specific energy sources, baseline conditions, functional costs of exercise in...

Fast, accurate blood gas testing is a critical component to managing the post isolated coronary artery bypass (ISO-CAB) patient in the hospital intensive care unit/coronary care Unit (ICU/CCU). Post ISO-CAB patients are admitted to the ICU/CCU after surgery mechanically ventilated. Evidence-based medicine supports...

The notion that acid-base and potassium homeostasis are linked is well known. Students of laboratory medicine will learn that in general acidemia (reduced blood pH) is associated with increased plasma potassium concentration (hyperkalemia), whilst alkalemia (increased blood pH) is associated with reduced plasma...

Article reprinted with permission from NP Communications LLC/Medical Laboratory Observer, September 2013. Laboratorians responsible for arterial blood gas testing are focusing on sample integrity, operator safety, data accuracy, and workflow efficiency.  

In a regional top-management decision, our laboratory was given the mission to control and quality assure all POCT activities in a regional network of 10 hospitals with emergency units. Based on previous work, new region-wide recommendations, procurements,  IT connectivity, services, training, accreditation (ISO...

Normal cellular metabolism and function require that blood pH be maintained within narrow limits, 7.35-7.45. Even mild excursion outside this range has deleterious effect, and pH of less than 6.8 or greater than 7.8 is considered – according to medical and physiology texts – incompatible with life. Such a view is...

According to the nurse authors of this valuable review article, nurses working in intensive care units often have difficulty understanding the intricacies of acid-base balance as well as interpreting the results of blood gas analysis relating to the critically ill patients in their care. To address this issue and...