How to use lactate

摘要

Introduction: Blood lactate has become easy to measure, with results now readily available to us in clinical practice from point-of-care testing and blood gas analysers. It has long been recognised that hyperlactataemia in acutely unwell patients is associated with poorer outcomes,1 but its interpretation and clinical significance is not always clear. In this review article, we present the evidence for the use of lactate as a diagnostic and therapeutic marker in acutely unwell children.