Alkalosis: Diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Despite its frequency, alkalosis has not been largely studied. The pathophysiology of metabolic alkalosis is rather complex: generating factors cause the trouble, but its maintenance requires the presence of sustained factors. The classical Henderson-Hasselbalch theory is more and more replaced by the Stewart concept for interpreting metabolic alkalosis. The treatment of metabolic alkalosis is based on the simultaneous normalization of the generating and maintaining factors. Respiratory alkalosis is classified into acute and chronic disorders and is caused by alveolar hyperventilation due to central nervous system abnormalities or tissue hypoxia.