title: Hypokalemia following trauma.
abstract: Frequent hypokalemia was noted immediately after trauma, and it was hypothesized that hypokalemia occurred more frequently in the more severely injured. A retrospective trauma registry and chart review was done on 546 trauma patients looking at admission potassium, a variety of lab tests related to potassium, specific injuries, hospital/ICU lengths of stay, and general patient demographics. Admission hypokalemia (K < 3.6 meq/l) was more frequent in those with closed head injuries (41.1% vs. 27.5%, P < .001) and in those who suffered spinal cord injuries (54.5% vs. 33.6%, P < .05). Hyperglycemia was more frequent with admission hypokalemia (45.2% vs. 29.7%, P < .001). Hypokalemia occurred more frequently in younger patients (28.6 vs. 37.7 y, P < .001). Also, the pediatric group, ages 5-14, had admission hypokalemia more frequently than those ages 15-59, or those ages > 59 (54.9% vs. 34.5% vs. 16.7%, P < .001). Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS) were significantly lower (12.0 vs. 13.5, P < .001) and Injury Severity Scores (ISS) were higher (17.4 vs. 13.4, P < .001), with admission hypokalemia. Additionally, hypokalemia was a positive predictor of ISS (P = .05). Hypokalemic patients more likely needed a ventilator, (26.6% vs. 16.5%, P < .01) but did not have significantly more ventilator days (P > .05). Subsequently, hypokalemic patients had longer ICU lengths of stay (LOS) (2.6 vs. 1.5 days, P < .005) and longer hospital LOS (8.5 vs. 5.6 days, P < .001). When stratified into categories of "severe": (K < 3.1 meq/l), "moderate": (K = 3.1-3.3 meq/l), and "mild": (K = 3.4-3.5 meq/l) hypokalemia, those with severe hypokalemia had significantly lower GCS (10.0 vs. 13.1, p < .05), higher serum glucose levels (167 vs. 137 mg/dl, P < .05), lower creatinine levels (.77 vs. .95 mg/dl, P < .05), and longer hospital lengths of stay (13.1 days vs. 7.6 days, P < .05 results).
authors.affiliation: North Memorial Health Care, Robbinsdale, Minnesota, 55422, USA.
authors.forename: Alan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Beal
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Scheltema
authors.forename: Greg J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Beilman
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Deuser
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007008:Hypokalemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*