SHM's Clinical Quick Talks-Acid-Base Mini-Lecture

Pdf Summary

This document is a lecture on acid-base disorders, given by Dr. Elizabeth Cerceo. The lecture covers various topics related to acidemia and alkalemia. The lecture begins by discussing how to determine whether a primary disorder is metabolic or respiratory. It then goes on to explain how to calculate compensation for different types of acid-base disorders, such as metabolic acidosis, metabolic alkalosis, acute respiratory acidosis, and chronic respiratory acidosis.<br /><br />The lecture also covers the calculation of anion gap, which is used to determine if there are any other acid-base problems. If there is an anion gap metabolic acidosis, a calculation called delta gap is used to identify the presence of a coexisting metabolic acidosis or alkalosis.<br /><br />Several important points or "pearls" are mentioned in the lecture. These include how changes in albumin levels can affect the anion gap, the relationship between pH and PaCO2 values, and factors that can affect the accuracy of certain lab measurements.<br /><br />The lecture provides several examples of different acid-base disorders and walks through the process of analyzing each case. These examples include patients with symptoms such as weakness, weight loss, polyuria, chronic NSAID abuse, watery diarrhea, diarrhea, and severe nausea and vomiting.<br /><br />The lecture concludes by stating that it was last updated prior to January 2020.

Asset Subtitle

Elizabeth A. Cerceo

Keywords

acid-base disorders

acidemia

alkalemia

compensation

metabolic acidosis

metabolic alkalosis

respiratory acidosis

anion gap

delta gap

lab measurements