Diagnosing acid-base disorders.

Diagnosis and management of acid-base disorders ranks high among the medical problems that intimidate many physicians. In practice, acid-base disorders can be approached very systematically as they can be easily diagnosed when certain rules are applied. Using a four step process including, 1) determination the serum pH, 2) calculation of the serum anion gap, 3) estimating the degree of compensation, 4) calculation of the excess anion gap, the reader will be able solve any complex acid-base problem. In this review we describe a practical stepwise approach to identify and resolve issues involving acid-base disorders.