ArticleWhitwam JG, Duffin J, Triscott A, Lewin K.
Br J Anaesth. 1976 Sep;48(9):853-7.
The i.v. administration of sodium bicarbonate was found to cause an increase in arterial pH, followed by an increase in PaCO2. This caused a large increase in lung ventilation in in PaO2. Oxygen administration in human subjects, and anatomical denervation of the chemoreceptors in dogs, caused a substantial delay in the ventilatory responses to sodium bicarbonate. It was concluded that the i.v. administration of sodium bicarbonate provides a method of testing the presence of peripheral chemoreflexes which has the advantage of being independent of alveolar ventilation.