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Determination of strong ion gap in healthy dogs
Author(s) -
Fettig Pamela K.,
Bailey Dennis B.,
Gan Kristi M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of veterinary emergency and critical care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.886
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1476-4431
pISSN - 1479-3261
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-4431.2012.00772.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anion gap , confidence interval , reference values , metabolic acidosis
Objective To determine and compare reference intervals of the strong ion gap ( SIG ) in a group of healthy dogs determined with 2 different equations. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Tertiary referral and teaching hospital. Animals Fifty‐four healthy dogs. Interventions None. Measurements Serum biochemistry and blood gas analyses were performed for each dog. From these values, SIG was calculated using 2 different equations: SIG 1 = SID a {[ N a + ] + [ K + ] ‐ [ C l − ]+ [2 × C a 2+ ] + [2 × M g 2+ ] ‐ [ l ‐lactate]}‐ SID e { TCO 2 + A − } and SIG 2 = [albumin] × 4.9–anion gap. Reference intervals were established for each SIG equation using the mean ± 1.96 × standard deviation ( SD ). Results For SIG 1 , the median was 7.13 mEq/L (range, 1.05–11.30 mEq/L) and the derived reference interval was 1.85–10.61 mEq/L. Median SIG 2 was −0.22 mEq/L (range, −5.34–6.61 mEq/L) and the mean SIG 2 was −0.09 mEq/L (95% confidence interval for the mean, −0.82–0.65 mEq/L). The derived reference interval was −5.36–5.18 mEq/L. The results of the SIG calculations were significantly different ( P < 0.0001) between the 2 equations used. Conclusion The 2 equations used to calculate SIG yielded significantly different results and cannot be used interchangeably. The authors believe SIG 2 to be a more accurate reflection of acid‐base status in healthy dogs, and recommend that this calculation be used for future studies.