Discordance between lactate and base deficit in the surgical intensive care unit: which one do you trust?

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2006.02.014 Byline: Matthew J. Martin (a)(b), Elizabeth FitzSullivan (a), Ali Salim (a), Carlos V.R. Brown (a), Demetrios Demetriades (a), William Long (c) Keywords: Trauma; Metabolic acidosis; Base deficit; Lactate; Intensive care; Resuscitation Abstract: Both lactate and base deficit (BD) are used as predictors of injury severity and mortality. We examined the significance of these measures when used in combination, and particularly when they provide conflicting data. Author Affiliation: (a) Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California and the Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA (b) Department of Surgery, Madigan Army Medical Center, 9040-A Fitzsimmons Ave., Tacoma, WA 98431-1100, USA (c) Department of Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care Service, Legacy Emanuel Hospital, Portland, OR, USA Article History: Received 24 November 2005; Revised 17 January 2006