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Summary of common body fluid distrubances. Most clinical body fluid disturbances fall into one of a small number of classifications. These are summarized in the table below, along with the changes in ECF and ICF volume and osmolarity. Note that the nomenclature gives you important clues: It is based on the condition of the ECF following the alteration. For example, hypo-osmotic expansion means the osmolality is reduced and the ECF volume has increased. Therefore you can immediately predict the changes in the EC fluid based on the words used to describe the clinical condition. Also note that shifts in osmolarity are always in the same direction. This is because the EC and IC compartments are always in osmotic equilibrium. Focusing on the name of the disturbance thus gives you three of the four changes listed in the table. The fourth column is also easy to derive: Since the number of disolved particles in the intracellular compartment is fixed (they don't cross the cell membrane), the only way for IC osmolarity to change transiently is by the addition or subtraction of water. If the osmolarity decreases, then the volume must go up. Note that in the chart below, the IC volume arrows are always opposite those for the IC osmolarity. In the table, ¯ denotes a decrease, an increase, and « no change.
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Copyright 1999, Joe Patlak, Department of Physiology, University
of Vermont. |