Electrolytes testSerum electrolytesNa K Cl testLytesElectrolyte panel
In short
A serum electrolytes panel costs PKR 1,050 at Marham Lab, down from PKR 1,500, covering sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate. MedlinePlus explains electrolytes balance body water, support nerve and muscle function and keep heart rhythm steady. It also notes a result outside the normal range does not always mean illness, since hydration, vomiting, diarrhoea and common medicines move these values.
Labs offering the Serum Electrolytes (Na,K,Cl,HCO3) test
Prices are as listed on Marham, checked on 5 October 2026.
How booking works
1. Tap Book
Serum Electrolytes (Na,K,Cl,HCO3) is added to your booking for you.
2. Pick a time
Give your address in Lahore and choose a collection day and time.
3. Sample at home
A phlebotomist comes to your address and takes the sample.
4. Get your report
Your report is ready in the time shown above, and you can see it in your Marham account.
What is the Serum Electrolytes (Na,K,Cl,HCO3) test?
Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electrical charge when dissolved in body fluids. MedlinePlus explains that they balance the amount of water in your body, balance your acid-base level, move nutrients into cells and waste out of them, support muscle and nerve function, keep your heart rate and rhythm steady, keep blood pressure stable, and keep bones and teeth healthy. At Marham Lab a serum electrolytes panel costs PKR 1,050.
What the Panel Measures
MedlinePlus lists the body's main electrolytes and what each does.
Electrolyte
What it does
Sodium
Helps control the amount of fluid in your body and helps nerves and muscles work
Potassium
Helps your cells, heart and muscles work properly
Chloride
Helps control body fluid, and maintains healthy blood volume and blood pressure
Bicarbonate
Maintains acid-base balance and moves carbon dioxide through the bloodstream
Calcium
Makes and keeps bones and teeth strong
Magnesium
Helps muscles, nerves and the heart work, and helps control blood pressure and blood glucose
Phosphate
Works with calcium to build strong bones and teeth
Marham Lab's panel is listed as Serum Electrolytes covering sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate. If your doctor also wants [calcium](/labs/tests/calcium-test-price), magnesium or phosphate, those are ordered separately, so check the prescription against what you are booking.
Why It Is Ordered
MedlinePlus notes an electrolyte panel is often part of a routine blood screening or a comprehensive metabolic panel, and may also be used to find out whether your body has a fluid imbalance or an acid-base imbalance.
The symptoms it lists as reasons for testing are nausea and vomiting, confusion and irritability, weakness, an irregular or fast heartbeat, diarrhoea or constipation, fatigue, headaches, muscle weakness, cramps or spasms, and numbness or tingling in the arms, legs, fingers and toes.
In Pakistan this panel is most often ordered after prolonged vomiting or diarrhoea, which is exactly the situation MedlinePlus describes: the balance is upset when the water you take in stops matching the water you lose.
Reading Your Result
MedlinePlus is careful about over-reading a single abnormal value. It states that if your electrolyte levels were not in the normal range, it does not necessarily mean you have a medical problem needing treatment, and that many factors affect them, including taking in too much fluid, losing fluid through vomiting or diarrhoea, and certain medicines.
Conditions MedlinePlus links to abnormal electrolytes include dehydration, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, lung infection such as tuberculosis, malabsorption, liver disease, acidosis and alkalosis.
Medicines it names as causes of imbalance are antibiotics, antacids especially in large amounts, chemotherapy medicines, diuretics or water pills, and steroid medicines. Antacids are worth flagging, because they are taken freely here without anyone thinking of them as medication.
The Names on Your Report
Reports often use clinical terms rather than plain language. MedlinePlus gives the pairs.
Electrolyte
Too low
Too high
Sodium
Hyponatremia
Hypernatremia
Potassium
Hypokalemia
Hyperkalemia
Chloride
Hypochloremia
Hyperchloremia
Bicarbonate
Acidosis
Alkalosis
Calcium
Hypocalcemia
Hypercalcemia
Magnesium
Hypomagnesemia
Hypermagnesemia
Phosphate
Hypophosphatemia
Hyperphosphatemia
MedlinePlus also notes that abnormal levels can be a sign of a serious problem including kidney disease, high blood pressure and a life threatening type of irregular heartbeat. That is the reason a report with an abnormal potassium in particular belongs with a doctor quickly rather than at the bottom of a bag.
A Related Test You May See
MedlinePlus notes your provider may order an anion gap blood test alongside the panel, which measures the difference between negatively and positively charged electrolytes. If the anion gap is too high or too low, it may point to a serious health problem.
How to Prepare
MedlinePlus states no special preparations are needed for an electrolyte panel. No fasting is required.
Tell your doctor what you take, including antacids and water pills, since both can move these numbers.
What Happens During the Test
A trained phlebotomist takes a small blood sample from a vein in your arm using a small needle. MedlinePlus notes it usually takes less than five minutes and a little sting is normal. In Lahore the sample can be collected at your home, which matters when someone is weak from vomiting or diarrhoea.
Final Thoughts
An electrolyte panel is a cheap, fast test that is genuinely useful when fluids have been lost or medicines are involved. It is also a test where a single out-of-range number means much less than people assume, because hydration and everyday medicines move these values. Tell your doctor everything you take, including antacids, and act promptly on an abnormal potassium.
Common questions
Not necessarily. MedlinePlus lists sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, magnesium and phosphate as the body's main electrolytes, but panels vary. Marham Lab's Serum Electrolytes panel covers sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate. If your doctor wants calcium, magnesium or phosphate as well, they are ordered separately, so check your prescription against what you are booking.
No. MedlinePlus states no special preparations are needed for an electrolyte panel. What is worth doing is telling your doctor what medicines you take. MedlinePlus lists antibiotics, antacids especially in large amounts, chemotherapy medicines, diuretics and steroid medicines as causes of electrolyte imbalance. Antacids are easy to forget because most people do not think of them as medication.
Not automatically. MedlinePlus states that levels outside the normal range do not necessarily mean you have a medical problem needing treatment, and that many factors affect them including drinking too much fluid, losing fluid through vomiting or diarrhoea, and medicines such as antacids and blood pressure tablets. That said, abnormal levels can also indicate kidney disease, heart disease or a dangerous irregular heartbeat, so the report should be read by your doctor.
MedlinePlus explains the anion gap blood test measures the difference between the negatively charged and positively charged electrolytes, and that providers sometimes order it alongside an electrolyte panel. If the anion gap is either too high or too low, it may be a sign of a serious health problem. It is interpreted with the rest of the panel rather than on its own.
اردو میں
الیکٹرولائٹس وہ معدنیات ہیں جو جسم میں پانی کا توازن، پٹھوں اور اعصاب کی کارکردگی، دل کی دھڑکن اور بلڈ پریشر کو کنٹرول کرتی ہیں۔ اس ٹیسٹ میں سوڈیم، پوٹاشیم، کلورائیڈ اور بائی کاربونیٹ کی مقدار دیکھی جاتی ہے۔
یہ ٹیسٹ عام طور پر اس وقت کروایا جاتا ہے جب قے یا دست لگے ہوں، کمزوری ہو، دل کی دھڑکن بے ترتیب ہو، یا ہاتھ پاؤں میں سنسناہٹ ہو۔ پاکستان میں زیادہ تر یہ ٹیسٹ لمبی قے یا دستوں کے بعد کروایا جاتا ہے۔
ایک اہم بات۔ رپورٹ کا نارمل سے ہٹنا ہمیشہ بیماری کا مطلب نہیں۔ زیادہ یا کم پانی، قے، دست اور کچھ دوائیں بھی ان کی مقدار بدل دیتی ہیں۔ خاص طور پر معدے کی اینٹی ایسڈ گولیاں اور بلڈ پریشر کی پیشاب آور دوائیں۔ اس لیے اپنی تمام دوائیں ڈاکٹر کو بتائیں۔
اگر پوٹاشیم کی مقدار بہت زیادہ یا بہت کم ہو تو فوراً ڈاکٹر کو دکھائیں، کیونکہ اس سے دل کی دھڑکن متاثر ہو سکتی ہے۔ ٹیسٹ سے پہلے بھوکا رہنے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ مرہم لیب میں قیمت ایک ہزار پچاس روپے ہے۔
