Help! Can any one help with ABG'S?

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Specializes in A little of every kind of nursing.

I really need some help on learning how to know when an ABG is fully compensated or partialy compensated. Can anyone brake it down to me slooowly?!!! Thanks

:idea:

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.

I've broken it down twice in this thread https://allnurses.com/forums/f121/acid-base-disorders-133110.html

HTH!

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Specializes in A little of every kind of nursing.

Thank You! I Think That Will Help Out. Have You Heard Of The Method Of Rome? Resp Oppisite Metabolic Equal? I Was Taught The Oppisite Direction Resp. The Same Direction Or Equal - Metabolic?

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Specializes in OB.

Here is a practice test, hope this will help !

http://www.indstate.edu/mary/abgpract.htm

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.
Thank You! I Think That Will Help Out. Have You Heard Of The Method Of Rome? Resp Oppisite Metabolic Equal? I Was Taught The Oppisite Direction Resp. The Same Direction Or Equal - Metabolic?

I was taught that using any kind of opposite/same directions method is BAAAAD. Understand ABG's and what the numbers mean and you'll always get them right. If you try to go with directions, it's too easy to get mixed up. JMHO.

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Specializes in OB.
I was taught that using any kind of opposite/same directions method is BAAAAD. Understand ABG's and what the numbers mean and you'll always get them right. If you try to go with directions, it's too easy to get mixed up. JMHO.

I agree. Learn the PCO2 is resp, the HCo3 is metabolic. Figure if they are acidic or alk. Look at the PH. If you have an acidic ph, an acidic pc02 and a alk hco3, you have respiratory acidosis, partially compensated, because the hc is trying to " make up" for the acid ph, pco2 by over compenstating and heading the alk direction.

Thats the way I learned it, and got a 94 on the test. Hope this helps

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Specializes in NICU.

The first thing to determine if the pH is acidic or alkalinic. A normal pH is 7.35-7.45. We know from chemistry that the lower the number, the more acidic something is and the higher the number, the more alkalinic it is. So, 7.30 would be acidic (aka acidosis) and 7.50 would be alkalinic (aka alkalosis).

Now, let's use 7.30 as our example. For blood to be acidic, only two things can happen. There can be too much CO2 or not enough bicarb. So look at the numbers for those and figure out which one matches. If CO2 matches, then it is respiratory acidosis because the lungs regulate CO2. If bicarb matches, it is metabolic acidosis because the kidneys regulate bicarb.

If the pH is 7.50 and you determine that is alkalinic, you know that only two things can happen here too. Either there is too much bicarb or not enough CO2. Figure out which one matches and like in the last example, CO2 is respiratory and bicarb is metabolic.

Now if you have both numbers high or low, don't lose focus. You are only expecting one to be high or low, so remember, the one that matches is what you have. So if you have acidosis and both CO2 and bicarb are high, you are only expecting CO2 to be high so it is respiratory acidosis with partial compensation. The bicarb is high because the kidneys are compensating the respiratory acidosis by holding onto bicarb and excreting carbonic acid in urine, which is metabolic alkalosis.

So basically...the body will compensate metabolic acidosis with respiratory alkalosis (hyperventilation, trying to blow off the CO2), metabolic alkalosis will compensate with respiratory acidosis (hypoventilation, trying to keep CO2), respiratory acidosis will compensate with metabolic alkalosis (kidneys keep bicarb in blood, excrete carbonic acid in urine), and respiratory alkalosis will compensate with metabolic acidosis (kidneys keep carbonic acid in blood, excrete bicarb in urine).

Hope that helps!

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