A blood test known as a monogrammed prise de sang is one way that your health care provider can keep tabs on your electrolyte balance. These are the salts and minerals that help carry electrical impulses in your body, including your heartbeat and nerve signals. Your body needs these ions to function. They can also help you hydrate and maintain the balance of fluids within and outside cells.

Your health care provider may order an ionogram as part of a panel of other blood tests (like a basic metabolic or arterial blood gas), or they may use it to help diagnose or monitor certain medical conditions that affect your electrolyte levels. For example, your health care provider might want to check your sodium level because it is important for nerve and muscle function, as well as hydration.

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The ionogram blood test looks at the main electrolyte ions in your blood plasma, which are sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), chlorine (Cl), magnesium (Mg) and bicarbonate (CO3). This is one of the most common blood tests used to assess your fluid and electrolyte balance.

Your ionogram will help your health care provider find out if you have too much or too little of each electrolyte, as well as determine if your blood has an acid-base imbalance. The test also calculates a value called an anion gap, which is the difference between the positive and negative electric charges of your electrolytes. If this value is too high, it may indicate that you have a condition called hyperkalemia. Symptoms of this problem include muscle weakness, confusion and nausea.