For citation purposes: Chester KW, Rabinovich M, Luepke K, Greene K, Azad R, Gayed R, Johnson O, Nakajima S, Abraham P. Sodium disorders in critically ill neurologic patients: A focus on pharmacologic management. OA Critical Care 2014 Jan 18;2(1):2.

Critical review

 
Critical Care Medicine & Pain

Sodium disorders in critically ill neurologic patients: A focus on pharmacologic management.

K Chester, M Rabinovich, K Luepke, K Greene, R Azad, R Gayed, O Johnson, S Nakajima, P Abraham
 

Authors affiliations

(1) Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, United States

(2) Emory Midtown, Atlanta, United States

* Corresponding author Email: kwyatt@gmh.edu

Abstract

Introduction

Dysnatremias are common in neurocritically ill patients and optimizing management strategies is important for patient outcomes. Well-defined diagnostic criteria and standardized treatment approaches do not exist for these conditions, posing a challenge to providers. The aim of this paper is to discuss pharmacologic treatment options for the most common sodium disorders seen in critically ill neurologic patients: syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, cerebral salt wasting, and central diabetes insipidus.

Conclusion

Proper treatment of dysnatremias necessitates an accurate diagnosis. In addition, prudent selection of therapeutic strategies and diligent monitoring are important steps to preventing potentially fatal consequences as a result of contrasting treatment strategies for the various types of sodium disorders. A keen understanding of the pharmacotherapy used to treat these disorders is critical to the management of these patients.

Licensee OA Publishing London 2014. Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY)
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Keywords
  • sodium disorder
  • dysnatremia
  • cerebral salt wasting
  • SIADH
  • diabetes insipidus