Your clients lab values are sodium 166 mEq/L, potassium 5.0 mEq/L, chloride 115 mEq/L, and bicarbonate 35 mEq/L. What condition is this client likely to have, judging by anion gap?
A) Metabolic acidosis
B) Respiratory alkalosis
C) Metabolic alkalosis
D) Respiratory acidosis
A
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The anion gap is the difference between sodium and potassium cations and the sum of chloride and bicarbonate anions. An anion gap that exceeds 16 mEq/L indicates metabolic acidosis. In this case, the anion gap is (166 + 5) – (115 + 35), yielding 21 mEq/L, which suggests metabolic acidosis. Anion gap is not used to check for respiratory alkalosis, metabolic alkalosis, or respiratory acidosis.
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