The Journal of pediatrics
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The Journal of pediatrics · Dec 1987
Effects of bicarbonate on arterial and brain intracellular pH in neonatal rabbits recovering from hypoxic lactic acidosis.
We used 31P spectroscopy to determine whether administration of a neutralizing dose of bicarbonate in rabbits with lactic acidosis caused a paradoxical brain intracellular acidosis. Ten 10- to 16-day-old rabbits were anesthetized with 0.75% halothane/oxygen and their lungs mechanically ventilated. Metabolic acidosis was induced by decreasing PaO2 to 25 to 35 mm Hg for 1 to 2 hours until the base deficit was 10 to 15 mEq/L. ⋯ PaCO2 rapidly increased by 10 mm Hg in the bicarbonate group, and remained elevated; it was unaffected by saline solution administration. Brain intracellular pH in the bicarbonate group increased by 0.12 U over 40 minutes, but intracellular pH in the saline solution group decreased 0.05 pH U (P less than 0.05) over the same period. We conclude that administering a total dose of 10 mEq/kg sodium bicarbonate to neonatal rabbits recovering from hypoxic lactic acidosis increases arterial pH, brain intracellular pH, and PaCO2; it does not produce paradoxical intracellular acidosis in the brain.