Arterial blood gas interpretation worksheet with answers

Free printable Arterial blood gas interpretation worksheet: 6 problems from easy to exam level, with an answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF.

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Name: ____________________   Date: ____________

1.Easy
pH7.357.457.18PaCO₂mmHg354567HCO₃⁻mmol/L222624respiratorymetabolicacidosisalkalosis

A practice arterial blood gas shows pH 7.18, PaCO₂ 67 mmHg (8.9 kPa) and HCO₃⁻ 24 mmol/L. Which primary disorder is it? Click the cell in the grid.

pH 7.18PaCO₂ 67 mmHg (8.9 kPa)HCO₃⁻ 24 mmol/L
  1. 1respiratory acidosis
  2. 2metabolic acidosis
  3. 3respiratory alkalosis
  4. 4metabolic alkalosis
2.Easy
pH7.357.457.19PaCO₂mmHg354579HCO₃⁻mmol/L222629respiratorymetabolicacidosisalkalosis

A practice arterial blood gas shows pH 7.19, PaCO₂ 79 mmHg (10.5 kPa) and HCO₃⁻ 29 mmol/L. Which primary disorder is it? Click the cell in the grid.

pH 7.19PaCO₂ 79 mmHg (10.5 kPa)HCO₃⁻ 29 mmol/L
  1. 1respiratory acidosis
  2. 2metabolic acidosis
  3. 3respiratory alkalosis
  4. 4metabolic alkalosis
3.Medium

A practice gas shows PaCO₂ 23 mmHg (3.1 kPa). Use the rule that in acute respiratory alkalosis HCO₃⁻ falls by 2 mmol/L for every 10 mmHg that PaCO₂ is below 40, starting from HCO₃⁻ 24 mmol/L, to find the expected HCO₃⁻.

PaCO₂ 23 mmHg (3.1 kPa)baseline: 40 mmHg, 24 mmol/L
HCO₃⁻ = mmol/L
4.Medium
pH7.357.457.21PaCO₂mmHg354541HCO₃⁻mmol/L222616uncompensatedpartially compensatedfully compensated

A practice arterial blood gas shows pH 7.21, PaCO₂ 41 mmHg (5.5 kPa) and HCO₃⁻ 16 mmol/L. The primary disorder is metabolic acidosis. How far is it compensated? Click your answer.

pH 7.21PaCO₂ 41 mmHg (5.5 kPa)HCO₃⁻ 16 mmol/L
  1. 1uncompensated
  2. 2partially compensated
  3. 3fully compensated
5.Hard
pH7.357.457.31PaCO₂mmHg354531HCO₃⁻mmol/L222615added normal-gap acidosispure high-gap acidosisadded metabolic alkalosis

A practice gas shows pH 7.31, PaCO₂ 31 mmHg (4.1 kPa) and HCO₃⁻ 15 mmol/L, with Na⁺ 136 and Cl⁻ 85 mmol/L. Use the anion gap and the delta ratio to click the best interpretation.

pH 7.31PaCO₂ 31 mmHg (4.1 kPa)HCO₃⁻ 15 mmol/LNa⁺ 136 mmol/LCl⁻ 85 mmol/L
  1. 1added normal-gap acidosis
  2. 2pure high-gap acidosis
  3. 3added metabolic alkalosis
6.Hard
pH7.357.457.18PaCO₂mmHg354578HCO₃⁻mmol/L222628acutechronicacute on chronic

A practice gas shows a respiratory acidosis: pH 7.18, PaCO₂ 78 mmHg (10.4 kPa), HCO₃⁻ 28 mmol/L. Use the rules ‘HCO₃⁻ rises 1 mmol/L per 10 mmHg (acute) or 3.5 mmol/L per 10 mmHg (chronic)’ to classify it. Click your answer.

pH 7.18PaCO₂ 78 mmHg (10.4 kPa)HCO₃⁻ 28 mmol/L
  1. 1acute
  2. 2chronic
  3. 3acute on chronic

Answer key

  1. 1. respiratory acidosis
  2. 2. respiratory acidosis
  3. 3. HCO₃⁻ = 20.6 mmol/L
  4. 4. uncompensated
  5. 5. added metabolic alkalosis
  6. 6. acute

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