The following is a summary of “Admission serum sodium and osmolarity are not associated with the occurrence or outcomes of acute respiratory distress syndrome in critically ill” published in the October 2022 issue of Critical Care by Li, et al.


Several studies have demonstrated that hypernatremia and hyperosmolarity may offer protection against lung damage. Therefore, the working hypothesis was that elevated blood sodium levels and/or osmolarity would protect against acute respiratory distress syndrome. Including all patients admitted to the Mayo Clinic’s medical, surgical, and interdisciplinary intensive care units between 2009 and 2019, this study is a retrospective cohort analysis. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) cases were found using a verified computerized search approach.

A multivariate logistic regression model was used to examine the correlation between serum sodium/osmolarity and the development of ARDS. Both linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the correlation between serum sodium/osmolarity and ARDS outcomes. With an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.95 [95% CI (0.86, 1.05)], researchers found no significant connection between the serum sodium level on admission and the development of ARDS among 50,498 patients. In addition, the computed serum osmolarity did not show any significant connection with the development of ARDS, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.03 [95% CI (1.00, 1.07)]. 

In the intensive care unit, 1,560 individuals contracted ARDS. There was no statistically significant correlation between their serum sodium or osmolarity levels and their results. In addition, there was no correlation between admission serum sodium or serum osmolarity and the development or progression of ARDS in the intensive care unit.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883944122002088

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