Abstract

A trial was carried out on acidotic infants recovering from neonatal asphyxia, on the relative effects of intragastric and intravenous sodium bicarbonate on acid/base balance.

Intragastric bicarbonate caused an increased rate of correction of metabolic acidosis within 30 minutes of administration. However, the Pco₂ remained higher in these patients than in the controls, so that the effect of the bicarbonate on rate of pH correction was negligible. The rise in Pco₂ occurred despite apparently normal respiratory function.

A similar limitation of pH rise by a sustained rise in Pco₂ was evident in the intravenously treated patients.

Treatment of metabolic acidosis in neonates with sodium bicarbonate may not produce the desired correction of pH.