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posted by janrinok on Wednesday February 28 2018, @09:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the you're-a-drip dept.

Would it be wise for many hospitals to replace saline with balanced fluids for hospitalized patients? It appears so. Doing such a move might significantly reduce mortality and morbidity, according to Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Matthew W. Semler during a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

The study involved 28,000 patients at Vanderbilt University who were given either saline-based IV bags or balanced fluid variants. They found that for every 100 patients on balanced fluids, there was one fewer death or critical kidney damage. Yes, 1 percent doesn't seem a dramatic reduction — but when viewed at a grander scale, that could mean up to 70,000 fewer deaths and 100,000 fewer incidents of kidney problems annually in the United States.

Source: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/222043/20180228/a-new-study-suggests-there-s-a-much-safer-iv-liquid-than-saline.htm


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Thursday March 01 2018, @01:05AM (2 children)

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday March 01 2018, @01:05AM (#645538) Journal

    You would lose that bet. Even with properly cross-matched blood there can be complications. Ringer's and saline are sterile, blood cannot be.

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  • (Score: 2) by dry on Friday March 02 2018, @01:02AM (1 child)

    by dry (223) on Friday March 02 2018, @01:02AM (#646141) Journal

    It's also how fast they can get something into someone. Took a friend to emergency yesterday, due to blood lose (varicose veins in his throat let go). It was somewhat busy, and this is Canada with the long waits, so close to 30 minutes before they were putting saline solution in him, whereas they insist on doing blood work before putting blood into him, which was close to another hour.
    While blindly putting in O negative might be required occasionally, it seems better to take some more time and make sure the right blood is used.

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday March 02 2018, @02:06AM

      by sjames (2882) on Friday March 02 2018, @02:06AM (#646161) Journal

      As an American, I assure you that 30 minutes is not a long wait. Unless you come in unconscious or obviously in the process of dying it takes that long to get to the registration desk in order to sign in.

      High fever and agonizing pain will sometimes cut a 6 hour wait down to 3.

      But yeah, even type O has to be cross matched to avoid the possibility of a minor hemolytic reaction. Even then, there can be adverse effects.