title: The good, the bad, and the ugly: should we completely banish human albumin from our intensive care units?
abstract: Human albumin is still widely used in critically ill patients for volume replacement therapy or for correcting hypoproteinemia. Most meta-analyses on the value of albumin administration are over 15 yr old and raise more questions than they answer. With the help of a MEDLINE analysis, we examined more recent studies in humans using albumin. Most of these studies have recommended a very cautious use of albumin in critically ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum der Stadt Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BoldtJ@gmx.net
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boldt
mesh_terms: D000418:Albumins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001810:Blood Volume / Q000502:physiology; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness; D006801:Humans; D007019:Hypoproteinemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000502:physiology; D010952:Plasma Substitutes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D010952:Plasma Substitutes; D012709:Serum Albumin