Significance of serum magnesium levels in critically ill-patients

Background: Magnesium is one of the major electrolytes, deficiency of which is frequently overlooked in critical illness, leading to an adverse clinical outcome if not monitored regularly. Settings and Design: Single center prospective observational study of 2 years duration. Materials and Methods:...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of applied and basic medical research 2014-01, Vol.4 (1), p.34-37
Main Authors: Zafar, Mir Sadaqat, Wani, Javaid, Karim, Raiesa, Mir, Mohammad, Koul, Parvaiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Care and treatment
Chronic illnesses
Critically ill
Diagnosis
Diuretics
Electrolytes
Heart attacks
Intensive care
Magnesium imbalance
Magnesium in the body
Measurement
Mortality
Original
Patients
Physiology
Teaching hospitals
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Summary:Background: Magnesium is one of the major electrolytes, deficiency of which is frequently overlooked in critical illness, leading to an adverse clinical outcome if not monitored regularly. Settings and Design: Single center prospective observational study of 2 years duration. Materials and Methods: The subjects studied were monitored for serum magnesium levels 2 times: Day 1 and day 4 of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Patients were divided into normomagnesemic and hypomagnesemic groups and compared for various parameters. Results: Out of 70 critically ill-patients, 50 patients (71.43%) were normomagnesemic, 17 patients (24.29%) were hypomagnesemic and three patients were hypermagnesemic. The stay of the patients in ICU (P > 0.05), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II (APACHE-II) scoring (P = 0.34) and co-morbidity (P = 0.360) showed an insignificant variation between the two groups. Associated electrolyte abnormalities in hypomagnesemic patients were hypokalemia (58.82%), hyponatremia (47.05%), hypocalcemia (70.58%) and hypophosphatemia (29.41%). About 76.47% of hypomagnesemic population was on magnesium lowering drugs while as 46% of normomagnesemic population was on magnesium lowering drugs (P = 0.030). Mortality of hypomagnesemic group was 74.47% while that of normomagnesemic group was 36% (P = 0.004). Conclusion: Hypomagnesemia is a significant electrolyte abnormality in critically ill-patients. Critically ill hypomagnesemic patients have higher mortality than the normomagnesemic patients.
ISSN:2229-516X
2248-9606
DOI:10.4103/2229-516X.125690