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Episode 98: Update on Bicarb: BICAR-ICU

November 14, 2018 by ACCRAC 6 Comments

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/accrac.com/podcast-player/758/episode-98-update-on-bicarb-bicar-icu.mp3

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In this episode, episode 98, I discuss the BICAR-ICU trial and what it tells us about using sodium bicarbonate to treat metabolic acidosis.

References:

BICAR-ICU Trial: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29910040

BICAR-ICU Editorial: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29910039

Forsythe: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10631227

Sabatini: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18322160

Pulmcrit post: https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/bicar-icu/

 

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Comments

  1. Mario gutierrez says

    November 26, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    What do you think about a bicarbonate infusion that is already running and comes to the or.

    I usually keep it going for the 1-3 hour case but I don’t have any data

    Also I think an accrac Facebook group would be awesome.

    It’d be cool for articles and questions maintaining knowledge etc

    Reply
    • ACCRAC says

      November 26, 2018 at 9:04 pm

      Hi Mario,

      Depends on why it is running. I would have a discussion with the team from the floor or ICU to discuss why it is running and whether to keep it going. Will definitely think about the facebook idea, thanks.

      Best,
      Jed

      Reply
  2. Luciano Pilla says

    November 26, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    Hello, Dr Jed. This podcast is fantastic. I would like to thank you for sharing such important topics with the Critical Care community.
    I have the same problem here in Brazil with Bicarb administration when it comes to Cardiac postop patients. Acidosis is the terrible villain and Bicarb is the hero for our pals, cardiac surgeons. The BICAR-ICU paper and the episode 24, “The Evils of Sodium Bicarbonate” with its references are key for calling its use into question.
    But even so, how hard it is to change ingrained habits in Medicine. The grip of prevailing dogma is difficult to loosen. It is more like a human psychological issue, I guess – our desperation for some sort of control over an indifferent universe – the patient.

    Reply
    • ACCRAC says

      November 27, 2018 at 4:59 am

      Thanks Luciano, keep up the great work!

      Reply
  3. Huayong Hu says

    January 24, 2019 at 2:19 pm

    I would like to add that this study is done on unselected group of ICU patients. If you have a stemi patient on LV Impella support with RV failure on multiple inotropes and vasopressors and lactic acidosis, this study does not tell us if bicarb is helpful or not. Even if a patient has normal pH with low bicarb and low PaCO2, arguments can be made in favor of giving bicarb. Consider these two scenarios:

    a. HCO3 = 24 mEq/L, PaCO2 = 39 Torr, arterial pH 7.4. If PaCO2 increased by 10 Torr, the resulting pH would be 7.3
    b. HCO3 = 16 mEq/L, PaCO2 = 26 Torr, arterial pH 7.4. If PaCO2 increased by 10 Torr, the resulting pH would be 7.26
    Scenario a has better protection against inadvertent decrease in ventilation.

    Another issue is that respiratory and metabolic causes of acidosis might have different physiological effects at the cellular level. A recent animal study showed metabolic acidosis significantly blunted cardiovascular response to beta adrenergic stimulation whereas respiratory acidosis did not. A nephrology study titled “Effect of metabolic and respiratory acidosis on intracellular calcium in osteoblasts” showed different effects on Ca regulation.

    Reply
    • ACCRAC says

      January 24, 2019 at 9:08 pm

      Great points. What we don’t know is whether a pH of 7.3 or even 7.2 or lower is actually bad. But your point about respiratory vs metabolic is an interesting one that we need to know more about. Thanks!

      Reply

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