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Journal Scan
October 2009
Lactate and anion gap in sepsis
As a global marker of tissue oxygenation serum lactate measurement has proven its usefulness in monitoring the critically ill. It has also proved useful as a screening tool for sepsis in the emergency room.
However, lactate measurement is not always readily available. Increased lactate is a common cause of raised...
Blood gases/acid-base
Infection/sepsis
Journal Scan
October 2009
Assessment of acid base status - the physiochemical approach
Traditionally, interpretation of blood gas results for the assessment of acid-base status has been based on the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation, the central focus of which is the carbon dioxide – the bicarbonate buffer system. At its most reduced form the equation can be stated as “pH is proportional to the ratio of...
Blood gases/acid-base
Journal Scan
June 2009
Hypernatremia acquired during critical illness
The incidence and significance of hypernatremia (raised plasma sodium) acquired during critical illness is the subject of a recently published retrospective study conducted at the combined medical and surgical intensive care unit of a Brisbane hospital where plasma sodium of all patients is regularly monitored...
Electrolytes
Journal Scan
June 2009
Normalization of blood glucose does not necessarily benefit the critically ill
Transitory hyperglycemia (raised blood glucose) is a common feature of critical illness that was once viewed as a benign effect that could be safely left untreated, unless it was particularly severe.
This traditional attitude to hyperglycemia in the critically ill changed dramatically in 2001 with the publication of...
Glucose
Journal Scan
April 2009
pO2 versus SpO2 in premature neonates
Premature neonates frequently have inadequate respiratory function and require oxygen therapy during the weeks after birth. Since they are also exquisitely vulnerable to oxygen toxicity, careful monitoring of oxygen status is an essential component of neonatal intensive care.
Measuring % oxygen saturation by pulse...
Blood gases/acid-base
Neonatology
Journal Scan
April 2009
Blood gases on Mount Everest
The lowest ever recorded arterial oxygen tension (pO2) was just one result of a series of remarkable physiological investigations conducted on Mount Everest that included arterial blood gas analysis at an altitude of 8,400 m (27,599 ft) above sea level, just 484 m short of the summit.
At this high altitude the...
Blood gases/acid-base
Journal Scan
April 2009
Is oxygen therapy for myocardial infarction beneficial
The notion that increased oxygen delivery limits ischemic damage to the myocardium during myocardial infarction seems, on the face of it, highly plausible. Perhaps not surprising, then, that for the best part of a century administration of oxygen has been a routine component of medical care for many patients suffering ...
Blood gases/acid-base
Journal Scan
April 2009
Book Review: Arterial Blood Gas Analysis - an easy learning guide
Of all tests performed on patient blood samples, arterial blood gases (ABGs) are conceptually probably the most complex. An understanding of the clinical significance of the measured and derived parameters generated by blood gas machines depends on a basic knowledge of so many topics, including acid-base theory,...
Blood gases/acid-base