What is the normal range for base excess?
What is the normal range for base excess? Base excess or base deficit is characterized by the amount of base that is required to normalize the pH of the blood. Normal values range from -2 to +2 mEq/L. How to calculate base excess? It is a calculated value from the pCO2 and bicarbonate as follows: total CO2 = 0.23 x pCO2 + bicarbonate .
What is normal base excess?
The base excess It is defined as the amount of acid required to restore a litre of blood to its normal pH at a PaCO 2 of 40 mmHg. The base excess increases in metabolic alkalosis and decreases (or becomes more negative) in metabolic acidosis, but its utility in interpreting blood gas results is controversial.
What does base excess indicate?
“The base excess is another surrogate marker of metabolic acidosis or alkalosis.. A high base excess (> +2mmol/L) indicates that there is a higher than normal amount of HCO 3- in the blood, which may be due to a primary metabolic alkalosis or a compensated respiratory acidosis. A low base excess (< -2mmol/L) indicates that there is a lower than normal amount of HCO 3-in the blood, suggesting ...
What causes negative base excess?
Most commonly this is caused by an excess of bicarb in the blood. If we have a low negative level, in other words a level less than -2, this indicates metabolic acidosis. This means we have a deficiency of base in our blood, or a state of acidosis. Remember that a metabolic acidosis could be caused by too many acids or by not enough base.
What is a normal base excess?
Base excess or base deficit is characterized by the amount of base that is required to normalize the pH of the blood. Normal values range from -2 to +2 mEq/L.
How is standard base excess calculated?
Most equations used for calculation of the base excess (BE, mmol/l) in human blood are based on the fundamental equation derived by Siggaard-Andersen and called the Van Slyke equation: BE = Z x [[cHCO3-(P) - C7. 4 HCO3-(P)] + beta x (pH -7.4)].
What does base excess in blood mean?
The base excess It is defined as the amount of acid required to restore a litre of blood to its normal pH at a PaCO2 of 40 mmHg. The base excess increases in metabolic alkalosis and decreases (or becomes more negative) in metabolic acidosis, but its utility in interpreting blood gas results is controversial.
How do you interpret a base excess deficit?
Base excess/deficit of +/- 2 mEq/L is normal. A positive number is called a base excess and indicates a metabolic alkalosis. A negative number is called a base deficit and indicates a metabolic acidosis.
Why do we use base excess?
Base excess of extracellular fluid is a quantity that reflects only the non-respiratory (metabolic) component of acid-base disturbances. It is the most used "non-respiratory" quantity for the diagnosis of acid-base disturbances and is calculated and presented by all blood gas analyzers produced today worldwide.
What affects base excess?
While carbon dioxide defines the respiratory component of acid–base balance, base excess defines the metabolic component. Accordingly, measurement of base excess is defined, under a standardized pressure of carbon dioxide, by titrating back to a standardized blood pH of 7.40....Base excessLOINC11555-0
How do you tell if it is respiratory or metabolic acidosis?
The pCO2 determines whether an acidosis is respiratory or metabolic in origin. For a respiratory acidosis, the pCO2 is greater than 40 to 45 due to decreased ventilation. Metabolic acidosis is due to alterations in bicarbonate, so the pCO2 is less than 40 since it is not the cause of the primary acid-base disturbance.
How do you fix metabolic alkalosis?
Metabolic alkalosis treatment uses an intravenous (IV) line to deliver fluid and other substances, such as:Saline infusion.Potassium replacement.Magnesium replacement.Chloride infusion.Hydrochloric acid infusion.Stopping the medications that caused the condition, for example high doses of diuretics.
How do you fix metabolic acidosis?
Metabolic acidosis treatments may include :oral or intravenous sodium bicarbonate to raise blood pH.sodium citrate to treat metabolic acidosis due to distal renal tubular acidosis.insulin and intravenous fluids to treat ketoacidosis.renal replacement therapy (dialysis)
What is normal base deficit?
Base excess or base deficit is characterized by the amount of base that is required to normalize the pH of the blood. Normal values range from -2 to +2 mEq/L.
What are three causes of metabolic alkalosis?
Causes of metabolic alkalosisLoss of stomach acids. This is the most common cause of metabolic alkalosis. ... Excess of antacids. ... Diuretics. ... Potassium deficiency (hypokalemia). ... Reduced volume of blood in the arteries (EABV). ... Heart, kidney, or liver failure. ... Genetic causes.
What are the signs of acidosis or alkalosis?
Some of the common symptoms of metabolic acidosis include the following:rapid and shallow breathing.confusion.fatigue.headache.sleepiness.lack of appetite.jaundice.increased heart rate.More items...
Is base excess the same as bicarbonate?
Base excess (BE) measures all bases, not just bicarbonate. However, because bicarbonate is the greater part of the base buffer, for most practical interpretations, BE provides essentially the same information as bicarbonate.
What is Van Slyke equation?
It is proposed to name this the Van Slyke equation: a - 24.4 = - (2.3 X b + 7.7) X (c - 7.40) + d/(1 - 0.023 X b), where a = bicarbonate concentration in plasma/(mmol/l), b = hemoglobin concentration in blood/(mmol/l), c = pH of plasma at 37 degrees C, d = base excess concentration in blood/(mmol/l).
What is BEecf normal range?
17 Normally, the BEecf is 0 ± 4 mEq/L. 12 Lower values (BEecf <-4) indicate metabolic acidosis, whereas higher values (BEecf >+4) indicate metabolic alkalosis.
What is the difference between actual and standard bicarbonate?
Standard bicarbonate is a second calculated parameter and is the plasma bicarbonate concentration of blood that has been equilibrated with gas of normal pCO2 (5.3 kPa) tension. In health, actual bicarbonate concentration is the same as standard bicarbonate concentration because pCO2 is normal in both instances.
What is standard base excess?
Standard base excess is the concentration of titrable base when the blood is titrated back to a normal plasma pH of 7.40, at a normal pCO 2 ( 40 mmHg) and 37° C , at the actual oxygen saturation , AND at an "anaemic" haemoglobin concentration, to account for the buffering of extravascular fluid by haemoglobin. It is reported as cBase(Ecf), to reflect the fact that the entirety of the extracellular fluid is under investigation here.
How to estimate extracellular buffering capacity?
An estimate of extracellular buffering capacity is thus estimated by using a dilute haemoglobin value in the equation ; after all haemoglobin is not present in the extracellular fluid. One needs to compensate for the presence of all that extra water sloshing around.
Is SBE stable over PCO2?
That said, the SBE, unlike actual base excess (ABE), is extremely stable over wide ranges of PCO2. Additionally, the Van Slyke equation does not factor in the concentrations of phosphate and albumin, which play a role in the acid-base balance.
What is the difference between actual base excess and standard base excess?
A further distinction can be made between actual and standard base excess: actual base excess is that present in the blood, while standard base excess is the value when the hemoglobin is at 5 g/dl. The latter gives a better view of the base excess of the entire extracellular fluid.
What is base excess?
Base excess is defined as the amount of strong acid that must be added to each liter of fully oxygenated blood to return the pH to 7.40 at a temperature of 37°C and a pCO 2 of 40 mmHg (5.3 kPa). A base deficit (i.e., a negative base excess) can be correspondingly defined in terms of the amount of strong base that must be added.
What is the predominant base contributing to base excess?
The predominant base contributing to base excess is bicarbonate. Thus, a deviation of serum bicarbonate from the reference range is ordinarily mirrored by a deviation in base excess. However, base excess is a more comprehensive measurement, encompassing all metabolic contributions.
When was base excess first introduced?
The term and concept of base excess were first introduced by Poul Astrup and Ole Siggaard-Andersen in 1958.
What is the difference between base excess and carbon dioxide?
While carbon dioxide defines the respiratory component of acid-base balance, base excess defines the metabolic component. Accordingly, measurement of base excess is defined, under a standardized pressure of carbon dioxide, by titrating back to a standardized blood pH of 7.40. The predominant base contributing to base excess is bicarbonate.
What is standard base excess?
standard base excess is dose of acid or alkali to return the ECF to normal pH (7.40) under standard conditions ( at 37C at a PCO2 of 40 mm Hg)
What is base excess?
Base Excess. introduced in 1958. base excess is dose of acid or alkali to return in vitro blood to normal pH (7.40) under standard conditions ( at 37C at a PCO2 of 40 mm Hg) Normal Base excess is between -3 and +3mEq/L. Standard Base Excess.
Why is standard base excess different from whole blood?
The "Standard Base Excess" is different because it uses extracellular fluid rather than whole blood. Given that extracellular fluid is a fairly heterogeneous slurry which is inconvenient to sample, the ABG machine calculates the SBE for anaemic blood, with a Hb of 50g/L.
Which buffers both the intravascular and the extravascular fluid?
Haemoglobin buffers both the intravascular and the extravascular fluid
Why get tested
Assess lung function by measuring blood pH, oxygen (O2), and carbon dioxide (CO2).
When to get tested
When you have symptoms of a breathing problem such as shortness of breath, shortness of breath, or rapid breathing; when you are being treated for a lung disease
In the test measures
pH: The pH tells you if your patient is acidotic or alkalotic. It is a measurement of the acid content or hydrogen ions [H+] in the blood. Low pH indicates a higher concentration of hydrogen ions (acidosis) while a high pH indicates a lower concentration of hydrogen ions (alkalosis).
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What is standard base excess?
Standard Base Excess is an in vivo expression of base excess. It refers to a model of the extracellular fluid (the blood volume is diluted with the interstitial fluid) and is calculated using a standard value for the hemoglobin concentration (5 g/dL or 3 mmol/L) of the total extracellular fluid.
What is base excess?
Base excess of extracellular fluid is a quantity that reflects only the non-respiratory (metabolic) component of acid-base disturbances. It is the most used "non-respiratory" quantity for the diagnosis of acid-base disturbances and is calculated and presented by all blood gas analyzers produced today worldwide.
Why was there a controversy about base excess in the 1960s?
The main reason for the criticism was that there was a difference between in vitro and in vivo titration with CO 2.
When was the acid-base nomogram invented?
Based on this, in 1960 Siggaard-Andersen and coworkers introduced an acid-base nomogram for the calculation of all relevant acid-base values of blood.
Why does Martin not use base excess?
The main reason is: "The negative terminology is confusing, particularly when BE is negative and one hears the term negative base excess". I was a little astonished when I read this.
What is the acid-base status of an organism?
The acid-base status in the human organism is described in terms of arterial pH, arterial p CO 2 and the extracellular base excess, Base (ecf).
Who was the strongest advocate of extracellular base excess?
Since Severinghaus in San Francisco was one of the strongest advocates of extracellular base excess, the discussion was also named "the great transamerican acid-base debate"! In 1977, Severinghaus suggested a "detente" and offered a modified Siggaard-Andersen nomogram containing an estimate of the compensation of hypercapnia according to the Boston school's work.
What is base excess?
They defined base excess as the amount of strong acid (in mmol/L) that needs to be added in vitro to 1 liter of fully oxygenated blood in order to return the sample to standard (normal) conditions (pH 7.40, p CO 2 40 mmHg and temperature 37 °C.) Of course, as the author points out, if blood already has a pH of 7.40, a p CO 2 of 40 mmHg and a temperature of 37 °C, then base excess is by definition 0 mmol/L.
Who claimed that base excess is an accurate index of the non-respiratory component of acid-base balance?
The notion that base excess was, as Astrup and Siggaard-Andersen claimed, an accurate index of the non-respiratory component of acid-base balance was challenged by US experts in the field, precipitating the so-called “great trans-atlantic acid-base debate” which the author outlines. In response to US criticism of the assumptions made in developing the equation used to calculate base excess, Siggaard-Andersen made a slight change (detailed by the author of this review) to the equation and called the changed index: standard base excess (SBE).
Is SBE a predictor of critical illness?
The final section of this article is a review and discussion of the accumulated evidence in the literature that SBE is a useful predictor of severity of critical illness associated with hypovolemic shock and consequent metabolic acidosis.

Overview
Definition
Base excess is defined as the amount of strong acid that must be added to each liter of fully oxygenated blood to return the pH to 7.40 at a temperature of 37°C and a pCO2 of 40 mmHg (5.3 kPa). A base deficit (i.e., a negative base excess) can be correspondingly defined in terms of the amount of strong base that must be added.
A further distinction can be made between actual and standard base excess: actual base exces…
Estimation
Base excess can be estimated from the bicarbonate concentration ([HCO3 ]) and pH by the equation:
with units of mEq/L. The same can be alternatively expressed as
Calculations are based on the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation:
Ultimately the end result is:
Interpretation
Base excess beyond the reference range indicates
• metabolic alkalosis if too high (more than +2 mEq/L)
• metabolic acidosis if too low (less than −2 mEq/L)
Blood pH is determined by both a metabolic component, measured by base excess, and a respir…
See
• Acid–base homeostasis
• Metabolic acidosis / Metabolic alkalosis
• Arterial blood gas
External links
• acid-base.com
• Anthology on Base Excess (O.Siggaard-Andersen)
• Emedicine: Lactic Acidosis