Acid-base disorders Flashcards
How does acid get excreted?
- when combined with urinary buffers: phosphate urate creatinine ammonia: major adaptive response is an increase in ammonim excretion in the urine
Buffers in our body?
- respiratory
- renal
- carbonic acid bicarb buffer
How does resp buffer work?
- pH will trigger an increase or decrease in rate and depth of ventilation until the approp amt of CO2 has been reestablished
- compensation may occur within minutes
Respiratory compensation in metabolic acidosis and alkalosis?
- metabolic acidosis: PCO2 will decrease by **1.3 mmHg every 1 mEq/L drop in serum HCO3 (better compensation in acidosis)
- metabolic alkalosis: PCO2 will increase 0.7 mmHg for every 1 mEq/L increase in HCO3 (doesn’t increase that much b/c normal RR needs to be overriden to increase CO2)
Importance of bicarb?
- base
- buffer for H+ ions
- renal system maintains balance of HCO3- and H+
- there is small immediate change due to whole body buffering system
- kidneys affect changes in pH which take 3-5 days (start chaging within 6-12 hrs with acute problem)
How much does bicarb buffer compensate in resp acidosis/alkalosis?
- acute resp acidosis: HCO3 will increase 1 mEq/L per 10 mmHg increase in PCO2
- chronic rep acidosis: HCO3 will increase 3.5 mEq/L per 10 mmHg increase in PCO2
- acute resp alkalosis: HCO3 will decrease by 2 mEq/L per 10 mmHg decrease in PCO2
- chronic resp alkalosis: HCO3 will decrease by 5 mEq/L per 10 mmHg decrease in PCO2
Main problem in respiratory acidosis?
- too much CO2, resp drive? or CO2 exchange dysfxn
What are the causes of resp acidosis?
- CNS depression: meds - (narcotics, sedatives, or anesthesia), or head injury
- impaired resp muscle fxn: spinal cord injury, neuromuscular diseases, neuromuscular blocking drugs
- pulm disorders: atelectasis, pneumonia, pneumothorax, pulmonary edema, bronchial obstruction, massive PE, respiratory failure
- hypoventilation due to pain, chest wall injury/deformity, abdominal dissension, obesity trauma
Main problem in respiratory alkalosis?
- hyperventilation
- tx by correcting underlying cause
Causes of resp alkalosis?
- psych responses: anxiety or fear, pain
- increased metabolic demands: fever, sepsis, pregnancy, or thyrotoxicosis
- meds: resp stimulants
- CNS lesions
What is the problem in metabolic acidosis?
- not enough HCO3- to buffer acidic state of the body
- HCO3- can be lsot: GI or renal losses
- or too much acid can build up: excretion problem - renal failure, intake - overdose, metabolism issues: anaerobic, ketone bodies (DKA)
- diarrhea, anaerobic metabolism: from tissue hypoxia
- starvation
- salicylate intoxication
What should you have at the top of your DDx when a pt has metabolic acidosis?
- tissue hypoxia, look for hypoxic tissue
Anion gap calculation, normal range?
- can be used to narrow down etiology of metabolic acidosis
- AG = Na-(HCO3+Cl)
- traditionally norm range 12+/- 4 mEq/L
What non acid-base disorders can cause errors in AG interp?
- low albumin: for every 1 mEq/L decrease in serum albumin the AG will decrease by 2 mEq/L
- hypernatremia
- hyponatremia
- certain abx
Why shoudl the AG always be calculated?
- possible to have an abnormal AG even if Na+, Cl-, and HCO3- levels are normal
- a large AG (greater than 20) suggests a primary metabolic acid-base disturbance regardless of pH or serum bicarb levels (not a resp problem)
What does a corrected HCO3 indicate?
- in an increased AG acidosis there should be a mole for mole decrease in HCO3 as the AG increases
- a corrected HCO3 higher or lower than normal (24) indicates the concomitant presence of metabolic alkalosis or normal AG gap metabolic alkalosis or normal AG gap metabolic acidosis
Causes of increased AG metabolic acidosis?
MUDPILES: M - methanol intoxication U - uremia D - diabetic or alcoholic ketoacdosis P - paraldehyde I - isoniazide or Fe overdose L - lactic acid E - ethylene glycol intoxication S - salicylate overdose