Test Guide | Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand Waikato Laboratory Website

Laboratory Information

Test Name

Lactate

Synonyms

Lactate plasma

External Price (excl. GST)

17.16

Specimen Collection

Pre Testing Requirements

Adult Specimen

Fluoride (grey) specimen.

Paediatric Specimen

0.3 ml

Test Information

Department

Biochemistry

Test Availability

Mon - Sun, 24hrs

Laboratory Turnaround Time

3 hrs

Method

Cobas Pro enzymatic.

Unit of measurement

mmol/L

Reference interval

0.6 - 2.0 mmol/L

Uncertainty of measurement

Diagnostic Use Or Instructions

Lactic acidosis is considered to be present when lactate is elevated to more than 3 or 4 mmol/L

Type A – Tissue hypoxia

Hypo-perfusion - shock, sepsis, heart failure
Anaerobic exercise

Type B - Metabolic disorders

Liver disease (reduced clearance)
Drugs – metformin, propofol, anitiretroviral medication, linezolid
Ethanol
Thiamine deficiency
Malignancies
Genetic metabolic defects - glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency, pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency; defects of gluconeogenesis; mitochondrial disease (e.g. MELAS)

Glycolate, a metabolite of ethylene glycol, causes a large false increase when lactate is measured on an ABL gas analyser and a smaller false increase when measured on the main chemistry analyser.

Minimum Volume

0.1 mL Fluoride plasma (Frozen)

Electronic Information

Registration Code

LAC

HL7 mapping code

$LAC

Laboratory Test Reference Guide