Acid-base status
- PH ↓
- Bicarbonate (HCO3-) current ↑
- Bicarbonate standard – normal
- Basenexcess (base excess) – normal
- Blood carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) ↑ (hypercapnia).
Other possible examinations
- Partial pressure of oxygen in the blood (pO2) ↓
- Oxygen saturation (SpO2)
| Acidoses and alkaloses | ||||||||
| Acidosis | Alkalosis | |||||||
| metabolic | respiratory | metabolic | respiratory | |||||
| comp. | decomp. | comp. | decomp. | comp. | decomp. | comp. | decomp. | |
| pH | normal | < 7,36 | normal | < 7,36 | normal | > 7,44 | normal | > 7,44 |
| HCO3- | ↓ | ↓ | ↑ | normal to (↑) | ↑ | ↑ | ↓ | normal to (↓) |
| pCO2 | ↓ | normal to (↓) | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | normal to (↑) | ↓ | ↓ |
| pO2 | → | → | ↓ | ↓ | → | → | → | ↓ |
Legend
- Comp. (= compensated)
- Decomp. (= decompensated)
- ↓ (= decreased), ↑ (= increased), → (= unchanged).
Compensation
The body attempts to compensate for respiratory – respiratory disturbance – acidosis metabolically, that is, through the metabolic activity of the kidney: Reabsorption of basic bicarbonate and increase in excretion of hydrogen ions. This leads to an increase in the base excess and thus to an increase in the pH of the blood. However, these compensatory mechanisms of the kidney take hours to days to have an effect, necessitating acute therapeutic measures to increase ventilation (breathing).
