Introduction: Hyponatremia is a common cause of hospital and ICU admissions. Correcting sodium levels should be done gradually to avoid complications like osmotic demyelination syndrome. Desmopressin can be used to prevent rapid sodium fluctuations. While effective, limited evidence exists regarding its use in patients with renal dysfunction and package inserts recommend avoiding use in patients with creatinine clearance (CrCl) 8 mmol/L) 24 hours after desmopressin in patients with renal dysfunction (CrCl 8mmol/L (8.2% vs 9.7%, p=0.14). Overcorrection rates at 24 and 48 hours were also similar (9.8% vs 28.6%, p=0.17 and 5.8% vs 15%, p=0.43). Conclusions: This study was the first of its kind to assess desmopressin efficacy and safety in the setting of renal dysfunction and did not show a significant difference in sodium overcorrection after desmopressin in those with renal dysfunction. Further studies assessing the impact of renal dysfunction on desmopressin safety and efficacy are needed.
Henry et al. (Sun,) studied this question.