PURPOSE – The purpose of this article is to discuss lean as a learning system in a hospital ward. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – Discusses lean as a learning system in a hospital ward. FINDINGS – The Toyota veterans are fond of saying, lean is about “making people before making parts” or, in the wards’ context,...

BACKGROUND: Besides actual pH, base excess (ctH⁺_B (mmol/L)) is of major importance since it is meant to reflect lactate acidosis due to fetal hypoxia; in vivo BE_B is not independent from pCO₂. Independence is achieved by using the extended extracellular fluid (Ecf) for dilution of hemoglobin (cHb_B), reducing cHb_B to ...

Some of the frequently asked questions are: Should we use BE (base excess) or SID (strong ion difference) as a measure of a metabolic acid-base disturbance?  Is there any difference between BB (buffer base) and SID? Should we use SBE (standard base excess), i.e. BE referring to the expanded extracellular fluid or...

The following is a copy of an article from Evidence-Based Practice, 2007; 10(12):1-2. Venous thromboembolism refers to a spectrum of disease that includes both pulmonary embolus and deep-venous thrombosis (DVT). More than 250,000 people in the United States are diagnosed annually with venous thromboembolic disease;...

CONTEXT: Sensitive D-dimer assays have been developed to exclude the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and have exhibited great success when used in conjunction with a diagnostic algorithm, including pretest probability scoring and a compression ultrasound (CUS). Improving specificity of D-dimer assays would...

Clinical laboratory measurement of serum/plasma creatinine concentration has been used to assess patient kidney function for well over 50 years. With incorporation of creatinine analyses to blood gas and other point-of-care platforms the test is now available outside the laboratory, at the bedside and in the clinic.  ...

Tight glycemic control (TGC) in the intensive care unit is essential to comprehensive clinical management.  However, TGC that is too aggressive in the wrong patient populations (particularly non-diabetics) can result in hypoglycemia, which brings with it a set of sequelae that can increase morbidity and mortality....

Clinical laboratory test results are a very important parameter in diagnosis, monitoring and screening. 70-80 % of decisions in diagnosis are based on laboratory results and more and more laboratory analyses are requested. Thus a lot of data are provided and it is therefore imperative for patient care (and safety)...

Analytical methods are often developed at one site and transferred to other sites for routine use. Increasingly, the method development is made by manufacturers of instruments and reagents. Regulatory agencies have ruled that the responsibility for the performance of IVDs in the laboratories mainly should lie with...

One of the principal utilities of arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is to help assess blood oxygenation status. The two ABG parameters used for this assessment are pO₂(a) (partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood) and sO₂(a) (% of total hemoglobin that is saturated with oxygen). In health pO₂(a) is maintained...