Hyponatremia in Emergency Medicine Follow-up

  • Author: Sandy Craig, MD; Chief Editor: Erik D Schraga, MD   more...
 
Updated: Apr 13, 2010
 

Further Inpatient Care

Admit patients with severely symptomatic hyponatremia manifested by coma, recurrent seizures, or evidence of brainstem dysfunction to an ICU and monitor serum sodium levels closely.

Admit patients with a propensity toward inappropriate free water ingestion to a unit where free water access is restricted. Clozapine appears to be effective in the long-term treatment of schizophrenic patients with compulsive water drinking.

Discontinue medications known to be associated with hyponatremia. Thiazide diuretics are a well-known cause of profound hyponatremia, especially in elderly patients, and should be discontinued in all admitted patients.

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Complications

Complications related to hyponatremia include rhabdomyolysis, seizures, permanent neurologic sequelae related to ongoing seizures or cerebral edema, respiratory arrest, and death.

Complications related to therapy of hyponatremia include fluid overload and the osmotic demyelination syndrome.

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Prognosis

Prognosis is dependent on the underlying condition and the severity of disease.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Sandy Craig, MD  Residency Program Director, Carolinas Medical Center; Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Sandy Craig, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Erik D Schraga, MD  Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mills-Peninsula Emergency Medical Associates

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Howard A Bessen, MD  Professor of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine; Program Director, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Howard A Bessen, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Erik D Schraga, MD  Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mills-Peninsula Emergency Medical Associates

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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