Chloride, blood gas

Diagnostic Use

Chloride is the most abundant plasma anion. Chloride influences body water distribution in a manner similar to sodium , and is also involved in the maintenance of electrochemical gradients across cell membranes.

In isolation, chloride measurement does not provide much useful clinical information, however it is required in order to calculate the anion gap .

Department

Core Biochemistry

Delphic Registration Code

BGS

Turnaround Time

60 minutes

Test Code

3073

Specimen Type

• Whole Blood

Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Syringe

Preferred Sample Volume (ml)

1.0

Additional Specimen Information

Paediatric Specimen 150 uL in blood gas capillary.
Must arrive in lab within 15 min of collection.

Aliquot Instructions

Sample Type

• Whole Blood

Minimum Volume (ml)

0.15

Additional Referral/Aliquot Information

150uL in blood gas capillary or 1.0 mL whole blood in heparinised syringe.

Interpretation

In general, the chloride concentration tracks the sodium concentration.  Large discrepancies between sodium and chloride often indicate specimen contamination (for example, contamination with the sodium salt of a drug left in an IV line).

The chloride result is part of the anion gap calculation, which is used to narrow down the causes of a metabolic acidosis.  Hyperchloraemia is associated with a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis (i.e. chloride retention to compensate for loss of bicarbonate).

In patients with severe hyperproteinaemia or hyperlipidaemia, blood gas chloride (and sodium) results should be used in preference to those from a laboratory analyser, as laboratory results may be falsely low.

Reference Intervals

95 – 110 mmol/L

Test Method

Direct ion specific electrode on a blood gas analyser

Non-Funded Test Cost

$24.50 (Exclusive of GST)

Billing Code

3002

Treat as urgent

Contact Information

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