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Health status and the preoperative change in serum potassium concentration
Author(s) -
HAHN R. G.,
LÖFGREN A.,
NORDIN A. M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.1993.tb03724.x
Subject(s) - medicine , potassium , anesthesia , analysis of variance , elective surgery , surgery , chemistry , organic chemistry
When evaluating preanaesthetic abnormal serum potassium (S‐K) levels, the anaesthetist often relies upon blood tests performed on admission to hospital 1 or more days prior to surgery. However, the S‐K is often altered between admission to hospital and the induction of anaesthesia. In this study, we examined the effects of health status and medication on the preoperative change in S‐K concentration in 150 unselected elderly men awaiting uroiogical operations. Oral daily medication was not given preoperatively on the day of surgery. One third of the patients showed a change of 0.4 mmol/1 or more (range – 1.1 to + 1.2), with an increase as common as a decrease. Those on treatment with calcium‐channel blockers or diuretics showed an increase in the S‐K concentration in the preoperative period, while patients using oral antidiabetics showed a decrease. The use of β‐adrenoceptor antagonists was not a significant predictor of the change in S‐K concentration. In conclusion, we found that alterations in serum potassium were common prior to surgery, but only a small fraction of this variance could be accounted for by health status and medication.