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Review
. 2018 Mar 21:6:2050312118762043.
doi: 10.1177/2050312118762043. eCollection 2018.

Recommendations for active correction of hypernatremia in volume-resuscitated shock or sepsis patients should be taken with a grain of salt: A systematic review

Joseph W Quinn  1   2 , Kerry Sewell  3 , Dell E Simmons  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Recommendations for active correction of hypernatremia in volume-resuscitated shock or sepsis patients should be taken with a grain of salt: A systematic review

Joseph W Quinn et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Background: Healthcare-acquired hypernatremia (serum sodium >145 mEq/dL) is common among critically ill and other hospitalized patients and is usually treated with hypotonic fluid and/or diuretics to correct a "free water deficit." However, many hypernatremic patients are eu- or hypervolemic, and an evolving body of literature emphasizes the importance of rapidly returning critically ill patients to a neutral fluid balance after resuscitation.

Objective: We searched for any randomized- or observational-controlled studies evaluating the impact of active interventions intended to correct hypernatremia to eunatremia on any outcome in volume-resuscitated patients with shock and/or sepsis.

Data sources: We performed a systematic literature search with studies identified by searching MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ClinicalTrials.gov, Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, DARE (Database of Reviews of Effects), and CINAHL and scanning reference lists of relevant articles with abstracts published in English.

Data synthesis: We found no randomized- or observational-controlled trials measuring the impact of active correction of hypernatremia on any outcome in resuscitated patients.

Conclusion: Recommendations for active correction of hypernatremia in resuscitated patients with sepsis or shock are unsupported by clinical research acceptable by modern evidence standards.

Keywords: Hypernatremia; critical illness; fluid therapy; shock; sodium; water–electrolyte imbalances.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram of systematic review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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