Korean J Nephrol.  2001 Sep;20(5):882-889.

The Analysis of Causes and Treatments of Hyperkalemia

• Cho HD
• Choi CR
• Choi SI
• Kang TY
• Lee DK
• Ryu JH
• Han SW
• Kim HJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hyperkalemia is a common, potentially life-threatening disorder. We studied the causes and treatments of hyperkalemia in korean with and without dialysis. We also sought to analyze how to treat and prevent hyperkalemia. METHODS: we reviewed medical records of 60 patients with serum or plasma; potassium levels more than 6.0 mEq/L. Twenty of them had been on maintenance dialysis. We analyzed causes of hyperkalemia and studied the sequence of it's treatment. RESULTS: The causes of hyperkalemia were mostly related to noncompliance(55%) and diet(35%) in patients with dialysis. In contrast, acute renal failure (72.5%) and drugs(15%) were the leading causes in patients without dialysis. Drugs causing hyperkalemia included angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, NSAID and potassium-sparing diuretics. Sequence of various treatments were in order intravenous calcium, dialysis, insulin and calcium polystyrene sulfonate in patients with dialysis but intravenous calcium, insulin, calcium polysyrene sulfonate with dialysis. There was no case of death by arrhythmia caused hyperkalemia. CONCLUSION: The prevention of hyperkalemia in korean included dietary potassium restriction and compliance on dialysis in patients with dialysis, and careful selection of drugs especially in patients with chronic renal failure without dialysis.

Keyword

Hyperkalemia; Causes; Treatments; Dialysis