MDC II Exam 2 Practice 2026 – The Comprehensive All-in-One Resource for Multidimensional Care Success!

This value set shows an acidemia driven by high CO2. The pH is low at 7.3, and the PaCO2 is elevated at 52 mmHg, indicating CO2 retention is causing the acidosis. The bicarbonate is 22, which is normal to mildly low and has not risen to buffer an elevated CO2. In respiratory acidosis, compensation by raising bicarbonate occurs over time; since bicarbonate isn’t elevated, there is no metabolic compensation yet. So this pattern fits an uncompensated (acute) respiratory acidosis.

Metabolic acidosis would typically show a low bicarbonate with pH low, and metabolic alkalosis would raise pH. A fully compensated respiratory disturbance would show a pH closer to normal with a bicarbonate adjusted upward to buffer the CO2.