Wednesday March 5, 2008
Bedside precaution

If patient is recieving Lactate Ringer's solution, than lactate level should not be drawn from same infusion catheter to avoid erroneously high level of lactate. It should be drawn from catheter at any other site of body or peripherally.

Though, once inside circulation lactate ringer does not have any clinically significant effect on serum lactate level.



Reference: click to get abstract / article

1. Effects of crystalloid solutions on circulating lactate concentrations: Part 1. Implications for the proper handling of blood specimens obtained from critically ill patients - Critical Care Medicine. 25(11):1840-1846, November 1997