Acid-Base Tutorial Home Page
Review by the "American Thoracic Society"
Summary: Overall, this is the most cleverly written website on this list, and certainly the most graphically appealing. It’s great start to understand some difficult concepts.
Authored by Alan Grogono, former chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Tulane, this site explains the myriad aspects of acid-base physiology (using Flash animations to explain the more difficult concepts). Written in an entertaining manner, the history of acid-base is dissected thoroughly. Several cases are presented as well as many printable nomograms which can help to delineate acid-base problems on-the-go. Also discussed in detail is the base excess, (which is often underappreciated in Internal Medicine acid-base analysis). The Interactive Acid-Base Diagram allows one to drag a cursor around several axes comprised of PCO2, standard base excess and pH to determine a patient’s acid-base status in real-time.
Authority: Dr. Grogono is well-published in acid-base, was chair of anesthesiology at Tulane for decades, and holds several patents in Europe. He was instrumental in developing our currently used acid-base nomograms. See his website for his “Grogono nomogram”, published in 1976. Rating: 5
Currency: The discussion is about topics that are well-established, and as such, this website reflects current thinking about these subjects. It has recently undergone a major revision of the format and addition of content. Rating: 4
Accuracy: As with the above website, there is an impressively thorough index to reference its claims, the physiology and approach to acid-base. Rating: 5
Navigation & Readability: The website is user-friendly. The above link points to the main page listing the 20 major sections, which can be followed in logical order or skipped through as desired. Rating: 4
Utility: By lack of more clinical cases, this site veers more toward the theoretical, but the theory that is here is spectacularly presented. Rating: 4