Talk:Osmol gap

PMID 8599495 - I'd like to introduce some historical background. JFW | T@lk 16:04, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Precision

Dr. St-Amant (talk) 01:47, 14 January 2008 (UTC) Osmolal gap is a wrong clinical term used for osmolar gap. It is widely used though, so its name should be preserved (add Osmolar gap as redirect link too) There is an important difference between osmolarity and osmolality. Someone should check this out. Thanks a lot.

Calculation inconsistent with terminology

In the introductory sentence, as well as the calculations in the calculation section, the OG is defined as "the difference between measured serum osmolality and calculated serum osmolality." However, in the calculations themselves, the thing that is calculated is written in units consistent with osmolarity (mmol/L, which is converted into mOsmol/L). This seems like a rather large error in a page devoted to defining and clearing up what osmol gap actually is. Doctorclark (talk) 19:55, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was moved to Serum osmotic gap Aervanath (talk) 13:22, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

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I made an attempt to explain a confusing clinical usage of units. Hopefully it is an improvement. It seems that the use of molarity and molality need to be clarified in this topic. Since an osmotic gap is often an estimate derived in the clinical setting from different methods of measurement (the laboratory using of freezing point depression resulting in a measure of osmolality and the clinical measurement of serum solutes resulting in osmolarity), the proper term, (and the term increasingly being used clinically) should be "osmotic gap," unless one is specifically referring to a measurement that preserves the units specified (osmolarity or osmolality). When an osmolality is subtracted from an osmolarity, neither term makes sense anymore. The best way to get around this seems to be to just call it an "osmotic gap." For this reason, it might be more clear if the page title is changed to reflect this usage, with "osmolal gap" and "osmolar gap" redirecting to the page. I have tried to explain the usage of all of these various units in the text.

This has been an ongoing confusion in the clinical setting, and it would be helpful to have a reference that explains the units used and why they exist as they do. Hopefully, this helps make the page a more useful reference.

Mba123 (talk) 13:20, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Sentence needs clarification

This sentence is unclear: "All three are osmotically active substances found in humans." It's found after the list of four categories of substances causing an osmolar gap. Is it meant to refer to sugars, lipids, and proteins while excluding alcohols, or ?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikeblyth (talk • contribs) 17:20, 27 August 2013 (UTC)