Bedside Analysis of Acid-Base Balance

Abstract

Laboratory service is one of the most hang-the-expense items in the cost of treatment of patients in an intensive care unit. Isolated acid-base balance (ABB) impairments are rare in clinical practice. These impairments are generally combined and they frequently cause a drastic change in the pH value of blood. Early detection of their origin and its elimination are of profound importance in these situations. Miniaturization of analyzers has made it possible to conduct some investigations and particularly to determine ABB just in the intensive care unit or operating suite. The attached software permits creation of a database and transmission of information to the laboratory network. One year’s experience has indicated that the quality of reagents and reference substances allows real-time determination of the values of ABB with a high degree of accuracy and reproducibility at a patient’s bed.