Abstract Rationale Hypokalemia is defined as serum potassium (K+) levels ≤3.5 mmol/L and is related to a wide range of adverse events. The relationship between diuretic use and hypokalemia is well known. The incidence of hypokalemia developing in patients admitted to general medicine wards has been described around 16-21%. There are multiple studies describing the fall in potassium levels with diuretic use in the ambulatory and general medicine wards. However, data is limited in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patient population, and we aimed to study the rates of repletion in this population. Methods This retrospective chart review evaluated patients admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center from January to June 2025. Patients who received intravenous diuretics during their first 24 hours of MICU stay were included for analysis in this study. We recorded patient’s baseline characteristics, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, indication for MICU admission, K+ level before and after admission, and incidence of potassium repletion. We excluded those without K+ levels recorded before and after admission and those who received potassium repletion in the 24 hours prior to admission to MICU. The primary outcome was hypokalemia requiring potassium repletion in the first 24 hours of admission.Data analysis was performed using two sample t-test to compare means between groups. Chi-square was used for categorical variables. Results 100 patients were included in analysis. The mean serum potassium decrease was -0.22 mmol/L (SD 0.72). 18% of patients received potassium repletion. Patients that received K+ repletion were more likely to be younger (p=.027). No other significant differences in sex, reason for admission or underlying conditions were noted. We also identified that a lower K+ level at admission was associated with a higher rate of K+ repletion (p.001). Conclusions In a medical ICU population, we demonstrated that 18% of patients who received IV diuretics needed K+ repletion. This is similar to the rates of hypokalemia seen on hospital ward patients who received diuretics. We identified that decreased age may be a variable that is associated with increased need for K+ repletion. Further prospective analyses still need to be performed to confirm this observation from our retrospective study. This abstract is funded by: None
Leyva-Villarreal et al. (Fri,) studied this question.