Standard bicarbonate
The standard bicarbonate is the bicarbonate concentration of the blood plasma at
- a normal body temperature of around 37 ° C,
- a CO 2 - partial pressure of 40 mmHg and
- complete saturation of hemoglobin by O 2 .
Determination of the standard bicarbonate
The direct way of the standard bicarbonate determination is the gassing of the blood sample with a gas mixture that contains 40 mmHg carbon dioxide, and the subsequent measurement of the pH value . The standard bicarbonate is then calculated using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation .