Avaliação do nível sérico de sódio em pacientes hospitalizados na unidade de terapia intensiva do Hospital Universitário da Universidade Federal de Sergipe

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of hyponatremia in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Sergipe (HU-UFS). METHODS: This is a descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach and convenience sampling in patients hospitalized in HU-UFS ICU. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 70 patients, of which 44 (62.9%) were female and 26 (27.1%) were male. Of these 70 patients, 32 (45.7%) presented hyponatremia on admission. Regarding the duration of the average length of hospital stay in the ICU in relation to plasma sodium levels, we found that in the eunatremic group, it was 6.1 ± 6.9, ranging from 1 to 32 days, in the hyponatremics of 10, 4 ± 12.3, ranging from 1 to 43 days and in hypernatremics of 10.8 ± 10.0, ranging from 2 to 23 days. During the hospitalization, 30 (42.9%) of the patients had clinical complications, 22 patients with hyponatremia and 8 patients with eunatremia. Of the 32 patients who presented hyponatremia, 19 (59.4%) underwent some kind of specific therapy for the condition of hyponatremia. In our series 15 (21.4%) deaths occurred, 12 in hyponatremic patients and 3 in the eunatremic group. CONCLUSION: We have observed that hyponatremia is a disorder with a high prevalence in the HU-UFS ICU with a possible association of increased length of hospital stay, clinical complications and a higher rate of death.