Quick Guide to Clinical Chemistry

The Quick Guide to Clinical Chemistry is a pocket-sized reference intended for physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical technologists, pharmacists, and residents and students in those professions. This guide focuses on the selection and use of chemistry laboratory tests for diagnosing and managing emergent conditions such as poisonings, acute abdominal pain, and acute myocardial infarction.

The guide's small size allows it to be used in situations when quick decisions must be made regarding the ordering and interpretation of chemistry tests. The emergent clinical conditions and the associated laboratory tests are described together for quick reference.

Although this Guide reviews several clinical conditions, it is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to all clinical laboratory tests, nor is it intended to dictate what constitutes reasonable, appropriate, or best care in a given situation. Comprehensive references for such information currently exist. Instead, it should be seen as it is clearly named, a "Quick Guide" to clinical chemistry.