Elevated lactate is a predictor of mortality from hemorrhage in trauma patients. Trauma patients with occult hemorrhage may have elevated serum lactate levels, but the laboratory test takes time. Researchers assessed whether end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) could be used as a proxy for serum lactate in a prospective study of 105 patients with penetrating trauma at a level 1 trauma center in New York City.
ETCO2 and serum lactate levels had a very strong inverse correlation (correlation coefficient, –0.86). Both elevated serum lactate (>4 mmol/L) and low ETCO2 (<35 mm Hg) were strongly associated with the need for operative intervention (odds ratios, 4 and 20, respectively); however, these effect sizes were overestimated because the authors should have …
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DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals