In a prospective observational study, Waters et al.
attempted to delineate the cause of acidosis in 12 noncardiac, non-vascular patients undergoing prolonged
surgical procedures (≥ 4 hours duration).
10
Intravenous
fluids used were sodium chloride 0.9%, Ringer’s Lactate,
Plasma-lyte, albumin 5% and Hetastarch 6%. The volume
of sodium chloride 0.9% containing fluids correlated with
base excess change (p < 0.0001) as did the total chloride
administered (r
2
= 0.93)