//
archives

Electrolytes & Acid Base

This category contains 4 posts

SOLAR trial – Saline vs Lactated Ringers’

The SOLAR trial, which compared a composite outcomes in perioperative colorectal or orthopaedic patients, assigned to Lactated Ringers’ (similar to Hartmann’s) solution – over 2 week blocks over a few years (8,616), has been published this month in Anesthesiology. The median volume of fluid administered in the perioperative period was 1.9L, and, no surprise here … Continue reading

At last – Chloride is nephrotoxic

For years I have been trotting around the world telling everyone that NaCl 0.9% is evil, because each litre delivers 50mmol of HCL and chloride is nephrotoxic. This belief has come from a series of studies in volunteers (reduced GFR, reduced splanchnic perfusion, reduced cortical blood flow) and observations (increased contrast nephropathy with NaCl versus … Continue reading

Just when you thought it was unsafe….HES again!

A couple of weeks ago I announced the imminent death of colloid. Now it’s back with another “Safe” trial (known as CHEST) from our colleagues in Australia and New Zealand (here). The study enrolled a colossal number of patients (7000) to either isotonic saline (IS) or Voluven (R). This is a 130/0.4 tetrastarch in isotonic … Continue reading

Giving up Colloid? – Yes we can!

Colloid lovers are distraught by the publication of the 6S study from Scandanavia, which has demonstrated that hydroxy ethyl starches (HES) were associated with poor outcomes (read here). For many of us, however, colloids are like nicotine, caffeine, carbohydrates and heroin rolled into one: we just believe in them. It’s so hard to stop. This month … Continue reading