The Effects of SAG on Portal Hypertension

The first time that you do a parasynthesis on somebody, you should be sending the SAG labs. SAG stands for serum to ascites, albumin gradient. If it's over 1.1, what that tells you is that the fluid in their belly is very albumin poor. And so if that protein is a high sag and low protein, that is the classic picture of serotic ascites. We remove the fluid. So we remove two or three liters. We send it any words of wisdom there for what fluid studies you send and how you interpret those. But basically, if the SAG is greater than 1.1 that tells us the patient has portal