title: Arterial blood gas analysis: selecting the clinically appropriate option for calculating base excess.
abstract: As part of arterial blood gas analysis, base excess is often reported as a measure of non-respiratory acid-base disturbance. Most blood gas analysers offer the option of calculating either the base excess of the blood sample or the base excess of the extracellular fluid (ECF). We report a case that illustrates that selecting the physiologically appropriate parameter avoids the potential for misinterpretation of acid-base data. We recommend that the base excess of the ECF is the appropriate metabolic blood gas parameter for clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Express Laboratory SouthPath Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park South Australia 5042, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Peake
authors.forename: Graham H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results