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Test Name

Lactate (Blood Gas)

Adult Specimen

1.0 ml blood in an adult blood gas syringe or 0.5 ml in a paediatric blood gas syringe or 45 ul in a plastic capillary tube

Specimen Collection and Transport Protocols

Remove at least 3 ml of blood to waste prior to collecting the blood sample from a line. Must be analysed within 15 minutes of collection.

Paediatric Specimen

0.5 ml blood in a paediatric blood gas syringe or 45 ul in a plastic capillary tube

Department

Biochemistry and POCT

Test Availability

Mon - Sun, 24hrs

Laboratory Turnaround Time

30 minutes

Method

Blood gas analyser

Unit of measurement

mmol/L

Reference interval

Adult 0.6 - 2.4 mmol/L

Cord Blood (arterial & venous) <6.1 mmol/L

Uncertainty of measurement

± 10%

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, antiretroviral 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 blood gas analyser and a smaller false increase when measured on the main chemistry analyser.

Additional Information

This test must be processed urgently. Lactate starts to rise within 3 minutes from sample collection.

Minimum Volume

45 uL collected into a 45 uL plastic capillary tube

Registration Code

LACBG

HL7 mapping code

$LACBG

Laboratory Test Reference Guide

Laboratory Information