Diuretic Therapy

Diuretic drugs are widely used for the treatment of patients with edema. Among these drugs, loop diuretics such as furosemide are perhaps the most frequently prescribed, and their clinical pharmacology is better understood than is that of other diuretics. This review will therefore focus on this class of diuretics, but others will be discussed as well.Clinical Pharmacology of DiureticsPharmacokineticsThe pharmacologic characteristics of all loop diuretics are similar. Therefore, a lack of response to adequate doses of one loop diuretic militates against the administration of another loop diuretic; instead, combinations of diuretics with different mechanisms of action should . . .