Arterial Blood Gas: Critical Care

What you'll learn

Course overview

This is one unit of instruction in a series of physiologic guides to the clinical significance of laboratory tests. A complete assessment of acid-base balance should include determinations of PaCO2, pH and bicarbonate concentrations, as well as the levels of the other serum electrolytes. Diagnostic possibilities include pure metabolic or respiratory acidosis, or a combination of the two, and pure respiratory or metabolic alkalosis, or a combination of the two. Respiratory and metabolic compensatory mechanisms are frequently involved, and in mixed disturbances in clinical circumstances frequently are of a mixed variety. This unit will help you sort out the acid-base component and the nuances associated with arterial blood gas interpretation which allows you to ascertain and identify arterial blood gas disorders. The oxygenation component of the arterial blood gas analysis is in the latter portion of this unit of instruction. Good luck in proceeding through this exciting home study instructional strategy. It enables you, in the comfort of your own home, to stay up to date in the rapidly growing field of respiratory care.