Indications for sodium bicarbonate are severe metabolic acidosis during prolonged cardiac or respiratory arrest - the diagnosis must be supported by blood gases.
In most cases the acidosis of cardiac arrest should be corrected by CPR; however, in longer arrests lactic acid production may occur as a result of anaerobic respiration will cause a metabolic acidosis which may need correction. Note that the acidosis will be mostly venous; arterial gases may give misleading results.
It acts to:
Its actions have not been confirmed in any satisfactory trial.
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