Causes of hyponatremia in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Neurosurgery.
BACKGROUND: Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder in hospitalised patients. The distribution of the various causes of hyponatremia has been studied in hospitalised patients in general, but little is known about the distribution in specific departments. We performed a prevalence study on the aetiology of hyponatremia in two departments in our hospital, namely, the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Neurosurgery. METHODS: Consecutive adult patients with hyponatremia (serum sodium concentration</=130 mmol/l) who had been admitted to the Departments of Internal Medicine and Neurosurgery were included in the study. The cause of hyponatremia was determined on the basis of information obtained from medical records, estimation of extracellular fluid volume status, water balance and biochemical parameters in blood serum and urine. RESULTS: Out of 41 hyponatremic patients, 12 had hyponatremia due to normovolemic disorders, 10 due to hypervolemic disorders, 11 due to hypovolemic disorders with extrarenal sodium loss and eight due to hypovolemic disorders with renal sodium loss. The most frequent causes of hyponatremia were extrarenal sodium loss due to vomiting or diarrhoea, hepatic cirrhosis, drug-induced hyponatremia and the syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion. CONCLUSIONS: In the Departments of Internal Medicine and Neurosurgery, certain causes of hyponatremia are more prevalent than others. The use of clinical data, in combination with a few simple laboratory tests, can lead to a correct diagnosis of the principal cause of hyponatremia.