LAB VALUES Flashcards
What is a normal range of sodium?
135-145
What does a high sodium reflect?
- Diet affects this and IV fluid
- Vascular fluid deficient (increased concentration, free water loss)
- Diabetes insipidus
What does a low sodium reflect?
- Vascular fluid overload (decreased concentration)
- NG suction
- Burns (loss of serum)
- Diuretic administration
- Vomiting, diarrhea
What is a normal chloride?
98-106 mmol/l
What decreases Chloride?
- Decrease with NG
- Diet affects this and IV fluid
- Drugs that may lower serum chloride measurements include: Aldosterone, Bicarbonates, Certain diuretics
What increases chloride?
- Drugs that may increase serum chloride measurements include:
Acetazolamide, Ammonium chloride Androgens, Cortisone, Estrogen, Guanethidine, Methyldopa, (NSAIDs)
What is a normal potassium
3.5 - 5.0
What does a decrease in potassium reflect?
- Decrease with NG
- Diuretic administration
- Vascular fluid (increased and decreased concentrations)
- Insulin admin
- Alkalosis
- Ascites
What does an increase in potassium reflect?
- Increased with IV fluid administration with potassium added
- acidosis
- Infection
Meds
Acidosis
Cellular destruction - burns
Hypoaldosteronism
Increase of K+ intake
Nephrons broken
Excretion problems - kidneys
What is a normal CO2?
23-30 mmol/l
What does an increase in CO2 reflect?
- NG
- Breathing disorders,
- Cushing syndrome
- Hyperaldosteronism
- Vomiting
What does a decrease in CO2 reflect?
- Addison disease
- Diarrhea
- Ethylene glycol poisoning
- Ketoacidosis
- Kidney disease
- Lactic acidosis
- Metabolic acidosis
- Methanol poisoning
- Salicylate toxicity (such as aspirin overdose)
What does CO2 measure?
kidney’s ability to buffer
What is a normal range for BUN?
10-20 mg/dL
What does a high BUN reflect?
- moderate or heavy bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract (e.g. from ulcers).
- Enhanced metabolism of proteins will also increase urea production, as may be seen with high protein diets, patients on total parenteral nutrition, steroid use, burns, or fevers.
What does a low BUN reflect?
- liver problems
- malnutrition (insufficient dietary protein)
- excessive alcohol consumption.
- Overhydration from intravenous fluids
What is a normal creatinine range?
0.5-1.3 mg/dL
When do you see increases in creatinine?
A rise in blood creatinine level is observed only with marked damage to functioning nephrons
What is a normal glucose?
70 - 110
What are high levels of glucose associated with?
- Expect to high due to stress
- Increase in catecholamine response
- Administration of steroids
- Diabetes
What is a normal calcium range?
9 - 10.5 mg/dL
What are 3 things that affect calcium?
- Calcium varies with the level of serum albumin, a protein to which calcium is bound.
- Vitamin D is an important co- factor in the intestinal absorption of calcium
- Bone serves as an important storage point for calcium, as it contains 99% of the total body calcium.
What is a normal phosphorus range?
3.0 - 4.5 mg/dL
When do you see increased levels of phosphorus?
- Hypoparathyroidism
- renal failure
- bone metastasis
- hypocalcemia
- acidosis
- Rhabdomyolysis
- hemolytic anemia
When do you see decreased levels of phosphorus?
- Inadequate dietary ingestion
- chronic antacid ingestion
- hypercalcemia
- alcoholism
- vitamin D deficiency
- Alkalosis, gram- negative sepsis
- malnutrition
What is a normal range of magnesium?
1.3 - 2.1