Short-term proton pump inhibitor treatment may cause hypomagnesaemia in critically ill patients - a pilot study.

Many studies have suggested a link between long-term PPI treatment and hypomagnesaemia, though none of them investigated the short-term exposure in high-risk patients. We sought to investigate this issue in 90 critically ill patients. We assessed serum Mg concentrations, necessity of Mg supplementation, PPI dose, duration of PPI therapy and route of administration. In multiple analysis we found that Mg supplementation (positive effect/p=0.03) and enteral route of PPI administration (negative effect/p=0.02) had significant impact on Mg concentration. Although the deleterious relationship between short-term PPI treatment and Mg concentration was found, further studies should be provided to confirm this interesting effect.