Wedesday January 24, 2007
Arterial and venous lactate

If areterial line is available, lactate should be drawn through it as venous lactate level is not as accurate as arterial and always shows higher value. In case "A-line" is not available the conversion formula is:

Arterial lactate in mmol/L = 0.889 (venous lactate in mmol/L) + 0.076

Note this formula is in mmol/L. In USA we use mg/dl. The conversion formula for lactate is 1 mg/dl = 0.11 mmol/L, so before computing, you might need to convert your value in mmol/L if you are using mg/dl unit.

Editors' note: The best approach would be to use the trend and serial measurements of venous lactate if A-line is not available but from academic point of view, it may be a good excercise.