Are Further Interventions Needed to Prevent and Manage Hospital-Acquired Hyponatraemia? A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey of IV Fluid Prescribing Practices

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Per Sindahl
  • Christian Overgaard-Steensen
  • Helle Wallach-Kildemoes
  • Marie Louise De Bruin
  • Hubert G. M. Leufkens
  • Kaare Kemp
  • Helga Gardarsdottir

Background: Hyponatraemia is associated with increased morbidity, increased mortality and is frequently hospital-acquired due to inappropriate administration of hypotonic fluids. Despite several attempts to minimise the risk, knowledge is lacking as to whether inappropriate prescribing practice continues to be a concern. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed in Danish emergency department physicians in spring 2019. Prescribing practices were assessed by means of four clinical scenarios commonly encountered in the emergency department. Thirteen multiple-choice questions were used to measure knowledge. Results: 201 physicians responded corresponding to 55.4% of the total population of physicians working at emergency departments in Denmark. About a quarter reported that they would use hypotonic fluids in patients with increased intracranial pressure and 29.4% would use hypotonic maintenance fluids in children, both of which are against guideline recommendations. Also, 29.4% selected the correct fluid, a 3% hypertonic saline solution, for a patient with hyponatraemia and severe neurological symptoms, which is a medical emergency. Most physicians were unaware of the impact of hypotonic fluids on plasma sodium in acutely ill patients. Conclusion: Inappropriate prescribing practices and limited knowledge of a large number of physicians calls for further interventions to minimise the risk of hospital-acquired hyponatraemia.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2790
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume9
Issue number9
Number of pages16
ISSN2077-0383
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • hyponatraemia, fluid therapy, intravenous fluids, prescribing practice, knowledge, PHYSICIAN PRACTICE, CHILDREN, GUIDELINE, SALINE

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 251025559