Laxative use linked to lower hyperkalemia risk in patients with advanced CKD
Patients with advanced CKD experience increased intestinal potassium excretion. This compensatory mechanism may be enhanced by laxative use; however, little is known about the association of laxative use with risk of dyskalemia in advanced CKD.
Laxative use was independently associated with lower risk of hyperkalemia during the last 1-year pre-ESKD period, finds a recent study.
The research is published in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology.
Keiichi Sumida and colleagues from the Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee included a study population encompassing 36,116 United States veterans transitioning to ESKD with greater than or equal to one plasma potassium measurement during the last 1-year period before ESKD transition.
Using generalized estimating equations with adjustment for potential confounders, the authors examined the association of time-varying laxative use with risk of dyskalemia (i.e., hypokalemia [potassium <3.5 mEq/L] or hyperkalemia [>5.5 mEq/L]) versus normokalemia (3.5–5.5 mEq/L) over the 1-year pre-ESKD period.
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