Clinical Approach to Acid-Base Disorders.

Acid-base disorders are common in emergent and critically ill patients. Acid-base analysis of blood gas samples can provide important diagnostic and therapeutic information to aid the clinician in managing these dynamic cases. This article describes clinical approaches to both traditional and semi-quantitative acid-base analysis to provide comprehensive insight into the metabolic and respiratory acid-base status of patients with both simple and complex acid-base disturbances.