Sodium Bicarbonate is an alkalinizing agent, it is used to correct the acid-alkaline balance in the body. It is used to reduce the amount of acid in the body after a heart attack in patients who have too much acid in their body or too much potassium in their blood.

It can also be used to treat patients who have taken too much tricyclic antidepressant medicine. Sodium Bicarbonate will only be used after other resuscitation methods have been attempted.

Normally our kidneys helps us in keeping the right balance of acids in our body. It is recommended to keep blood bicarbonate at levels above 22 mEq/L. The normal range is 22–29 mEq/L. People with metabolic acidosis have a blood bicarbonate level between 12–22 mEq/L, while people with severe metabolic acidosis fall below 12 mEq/L.

Metabolic acidosis is common in people with kidney disease because their kidneys are not filtering their blood well enough. It can also happen in people with diabetes or kidney failure.