Importance of measuring lactate levels in children with sepsis
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence & Practice Previous     Next

Importance of measuring lactate levels in children with sepsis

Nisha Anil Registered nurse, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool NSW, Australia

Sepsis is a major public health problem as well as one of the leading causes of preventable death in children because of failure to recognise the early signs and symptoms and to resuscitate rapidly. Blood lactate levels are used to assess the severity of sepsis and the effectiveness of resuscitation.

Lactate levels are easily obtainable and should be checked in all patients admitted with suspected sepsis within six hours of presentation. The test should be repeated four and eight-hours post-diagnosis of sepsis. For the diagnosis of sepsis, patients’ clinical symptoms, along with the combined analysis of partial pressure of oxygen, carbon dioxide and lactate levels, should be used. A multitude of factors can cause elevated lactate levels and so clinicians should use elevated levels cautiously by considering all other aetiologies.

This article, which focuses on practice in Australia but makes reference to the UK, discusses the importance of measuring lactate levels in sepsis, the pathophysiology of lactate production, causes of elevated lactate levels, lactate measurement, nursing management of patients with elevated lactate levels, limitations of using lactate as a biomarker for diagnosing sepsis and implications for practice.

Nursing Children and Young People. 29, 8, 26-29. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2017.e924

Correspondence

nisharm@yahoo.com

Conflict of interest

None declared

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Write for us

For information about writing for RCNi journals, contact writeforus@rcni.com

For author guidelines, go to rcni.com/writeforus

Received: 12 March 2017

Accepted: 15 June 2017

Your organisation does not have access to this article
Recommend to your librarian
RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

OR

3-month trial offer for �5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more