Rapid Correction of Hyperkalemia Reduces Mortality by Half

Quickly normalizing serum potassium levels in hyperkalemic patients visiting the emergency department (ER) might reduce their death risk, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the American Journal of Emergency.

In the study, Singer, professor and vice-chair of research for the Department of Emergency Medicine in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, and colleagues, reviewed nearly 115,000 Stony Brook University Hospital ED visits during 2016 and 2017, finding the mortality rate was significantly reduced in this patient cohort (6.3 % vs. 12.7 %).

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‘Emergency department patients who experienced serum potassium normalization within 3 to 8 hours had half the death risk of those with persistent hyperkalemia. ’

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Millions of patients suffering from diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and renal failure are at an increased risk for hyperkalemia. Many therapies to treat these conditions may also increase potassium levels.

"Because of the increased risk of hyperkalemia in this population, it is important, as our study showed, to develop protocols that help quickly identify and correct hyperkalemia while the patient is still in the emergency department," said Dr. Singer.

Source-Eurekalert

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