Effects of acute hyperventilation on serum potassium in the dog.

The effects of increasing respiratory rates on arterial pH, PaCO2, HCO3, and potassium (K) were measured in normal anesthetized dogs. Hyperventilation resulted in increased pH, decreased PaCO2, decreased HCO3, and decreased K compared with those parameters in spontaneously breathing dogs. The changes were related quantitatively: each 10 mmHg decrease in PaCO2 was associated with a pH increase of 0.1, a HCO3 decrease of 2.0 mEq/L, and a K decrease of 0.4 mEq/L. There were no cardiac arrhythmias or clinical signs of hypokalemia. After termination of hyperventilation, serum K was slower to return to control values than PaCO2. The ratio of the duration of hyperventilation to the time required for return of serum K to control was 0.67.