A survey of arterial blood gas analysis of older patients

Arterial Blood Gases

“…The AG may be used as an adjunct tool to assess acid-base problems. The anion gap is a term that is used to describe the difference between the sum of the two main cations, sodium and potassium and the sum of the two main anions, chloride and bicarbonate: AG = ( Following a survey of 220 ABG analyses of older patients in an Irish hospital, the authors recommended that the AG should be calculated on every sample and every negative and positive AG should be fully investigated 48 . Since AG >30mmol/L and AG <3mmol/L are rare, the quality system of the laboratory should be investigated in these instances 49,50 .…”