LACTATE, PH, AND BLOOD-GAS ANALYSIS IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS

To obtain information about the relationship between different types o f circulatory insufficiency, a series of oxygen parameters and plasma lactate, we have performed a pilot study comprising five patients with circulatory insufficiency. Plasma lactate was measured on a Stat Prof ile 7 (NOVA Biomedical, USA) and pH/blood gases on an ABL(TM)520 (Radi ometer Medical A/S, Denmark). Plasma lactate seems to be inversely rel ated to base excess (BE), whereas no relationship to venous oxygen ten sion pO(2)(v) of the vein draining the inadequately perfused region se emed to exist. In one patient we made simultaneous measurements from v . cava inferior., v. cava superior., a. pulmonalis and a. radialis. Si multaneously sampled plasma lactate from different sites differed up t o 0.6 mmol/L with the highest value obtained from v. cava inferior. Th is pilot study indicates that the increase of plasma lactate may vary with the type of circulatory disturbance and the sampling site.