Reduced plasma sodium concentration (hyponatremia) is the most common electrolyte disturbance, affecting up to 15 % of hospitalized patients. There are many possible causes and the identification of cause is often important for the management of the severely hyponatremic patient. There is some evidence to suggest that ...

In health, plasma potassium is maintained within the range of 3.5-5.2 mmol/L. Marked increase in potassium level (> 6.5 mmol/L) is considered a clinical emergency because it is associated with high risk of cardiac arrhythmia and, ultimately, cardiac arrest. Collective clinical experience suggests that in the absence...

The introduction of new clinical procedures may have unanticipated adverse effects. The rising incidence of nosocomial infection has highlighted a critical need for effective hand hygiene among healthcare workers. During the past five years there has been increasing acceptance by health authorities of the...

Assessment of patient acid-base status is one of the principal uses of arterial blood gas analysis. Disturbance of acid-base, usually the result of abnormal accumulation of metabolic acids, most notably lactic acid, is a relatively frequent finding among critically ill patients.  Base deficit (BD), a blood gas...

Disturbance of the mechanisms which maintain normal blood pH is a defining feature of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), an acute and life-threatening complication of the chronic metabolic disease, diabetes.  For this reason diagnosis and monitoring of DKA invariably include measurement of arterial blood gases. This...

Preanalytical errors are said to be the reason for up to 75 % [1] of all errors in laboratory medicine. The diagnostic consequences depend on the magnitude of the preanalytical error.  In worst case, these errors may lead to mistreatment of patients; in all cases, these errors are an extra workload for the hospital...

The measurement of the electrolytes in blood is one of the most frequently performed measurements as the electrolytes are of major physiological importance for numerous functions of the body. Analysis of electrolytes such as sodium and potassium are performed in the traditional clinical chemistry laboratory, but are...

The pro-con debate on the advisability of introducing POCT deals with the likely clinical benefits but – to an even higher degree – with the economic aspects. We discuss various models for determining the costs, and some caveats.