Determination of Sodium in Blood

Abstract

Human blood is tested in clinical diagnostic laboratories for numerous indicators. One of these indicators is the concentration of sodium. The review presents a chronological development of methods for determining the concentration of sodium in plasma, serum, and whole blood, based on different analytical methods such as flame photometry, potentiometry, ion chromatography, spectrophotometry, gravimetry, and titrimetry. A brief overview of these methods and the results of comparative tests are given. Currently, potentiometric procedures for determining the concentration of sodium in plasma, serum, and whole blood are the most widespread in small, medium, and large clinical diagnostic laboratories. Flame photometric procedures often act as expert methods. Ion chromatography is mainly used in research organizations, while gravimetric and titrimetric procedures are rarely used at present.