Prevalence of Hyponatremia in Intensive Care Unit Patients With Brain Injury in Kashan Shahid-Beheshti Hospital in 2012

BACKGROUND Hyponatremia is a common disorder in patients with brain injury. It can result in acute and chronic complications providing this electrolytic disorder is not diagnosed and treated in due time. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hyponatremia in 95 brain injury patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Kashan Shahid-Veheshti hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS This trans-sectional study was conducted on brain injury patients (brain traumas, brain hemorrhage, meningitis and brain tumors) during their six-month stay in the ICU in Kashan Shahid-Beheshti hospital. Data were analyzed after excluding cases of pseudohyponatremia. RESULTS Ninety-five patients with brain injury (69.5% male and 30.5% female ( had a mean age of 42.85 ± 22.59 years, while the hyponatremic patients had a mean age of 48.37 ± 24.03 years. Prevalence and occurrence of hyponatremia were 31.6% and 9.29 ± 6.8 days, respectively. This study revealed no meaningful differences between age, sex, underlying disease and the prevalence of hyponatremia. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed an elevated frequency of hyponatremia in patients with brain injuries in ICU which demands the effective approaches for an accurate and timely diagnosis of this electrolyte disorder.