Acid-Base Physiology III

Question 1

Given a set of blood gas values that represent an acid-base derangement, be able to describe the primary cause of the derangement and any secondary compensatory responses.

Answer 1

What is driving the difference? The Pco2 or the bicarb? Pco2 means respiratory… bicarb is metabolic. Decreased ventilation rate increases the co2.

chart on 15 or 25

Question 2

Define anion gap and, given the appropriate blood chemistry values, be able to calculate it.

Answer 2

The concentration of anions and cations in the plasma must be equal to maintain electrical neutrality, so there is never a real anion gap. It’s a gap in the anions we are measuring. The anion gap will increase if unmeasured anions rise or if unmeasured cations fall.
Anion gap is used to diagnose causes of metabolic acidosis.