What is the cause of osmotic pressure?
Why must the osmolality of an intravenous solution match the osmolality of blood?
Osmotic pressure is the hydrostatic pressure produced by a solution in a space divided by a semipermeable membrane due to a differential in the concentrations of solute.
Generally cell membranes are freely permeable to water, the osmolality of the extracellular fluid (ECF) is approximately equal to that of the intracellular fluid (ICF). Therefore, plasma osmolality is a guide to intracellular osmolality. This is important factor, as it shows that changes in ECF osmolality have a great affect on ICF osmolality - changes that can cause problems with normal cell functioning and volume.
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