Rule of 80's

The rule of 80's is a method of interpreting a person's acid-base status using an arterial blood gas. It is a quick way to determine if a patient has metabolic acidosis, metabolic alkalosis, respiratory acidosis, or respiratory alkalosis. It does not say anything about the cause of the acid-base disturbance.^{[citation needed]}

Method

Step	Procedure	Rule	Example
1	Look at pH and pCO₂		pH = 7.30 pCO₂ = 35
2	Take decimal from pH and add it to pCO₂	<77 = metabolic acidemia 77-83 = pure respiratory >83 = metabolic alkalemia	30 + 35 = 65 Metabolic acidemia
3	Look at pCO₂	<40 = respiratory alkalemia >40 = respiratory acidemia	pCO₂ = 35 Respiratory alkalemia
4	Look at pH ^[1]	<7.40 = acidosis >7.40 = alkalosis	pH = 7.30 Acidosis
5	Rename the primary process ^[2]	Change name of primary process (-emia becomes -osis)	Metabolic acidemia becomes Metabolic acidosis
6	Final interpretation		Metabolic acidosis with respiratory alkalemia

↑ If the patient has a pH less than 7.40, it is an acidosis. If the pH is greater than 7.40, it is an alkalosis. This is the primary process.
If the pH = 7.40, nothing is termed "-osis". The acidemia and alkalemia remain named as is.
↑ If the patient has an acidosis, the metabolic or respiratory acidemia is termed a metabolic or respiratory acidosis. If the patient has an alkalosis, the metabolic or respiratory alkalemia is termed a metabolic or respiratory alkalosis.

pH	pCO₂	Interpretation
7.20	60	Pure respiratory acidosis
7.60	20	Pure respiratory alkalosis
7.20	20	Metabolic acidosis with respiratory alkalemia
7.50	50	Metabolic alkalosis with respiratory acidemia

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