Arterial blood gas practice strip
Six laboratory slips in a two-by-three grid, each with three value rows and an empty answer box beside it; one slip sits slightly rotated with tape at two corners.
Work each one with the four steps from page 36. Write your classification in the box before you look down.
Strip 1 Potential of hydrogen 7.28 · carbon dioxide 58 · bicarbonate 25. Context: oversedation after an opioid dose.
Strip 2 7.50 · 30 · 23. Context: acute anxiety with rapid, shallow breathing.
Strip 3 7.30 · 36 · 16. Context: diabetic ketoacidosis.
Strip 4 7.49 · 48 · 33. Context: three days of vomiting with nasogastric suction.
Strip 5 7.37 · 60 · 34. Context: long-standing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Strip 6 7.44 · 28 · 19. Context: sustained hyperventilation over several days.
How to score yourself
A miss on strips 1 through 3 means step 2 or step 3 is unstable, and you are still deciding lungs versus kidneys by feel. A miss on strips 4 through 6 means step 4 is the gap. Step 4 is the one the exam leans on hardest.
Margin noteif the pH looks fine, look twice.
Watch outstrips 5 and 6 both have a potential of hydrogen inside range, and neither gas is normal.
Takeawaya normal potential of hydrogen with two abnormal values is a compensated disorder, and the exam knows it.
Answers, in order: 1 uncompensated respiratory acidosis · 2 uncompensated respiratory alkalosis · 3 uncompensated metabolic acidosis · 4 partially compensated metabolic alkalosis · 5 fully compensated respiratory acidosis · 6 fully compensated respiratory alkalosis.
Timed version → BOOK 07 · P11.