Hyponatraemia in hip fracture patients

We performed a retrospective review of hyponatraemia in patients with hip fractures, before and after surgery. All patients admitted with fractures of the neck of femur who had a surgical intervention to deal with the fracture were included. Results were determined using two definitions for hyponatraemia. The incidence of pre-operative and post-operative hyponatraemia were both 2.8% if hyponatraemia was defined as [Na] < 130 mmol/l. No cases of hyponatraemia were found pre-operatively when hyponatraemia was defined as [Na] < 125 mmol/l. Using this definition the post operative incidence of hyponatraemia was 0.93%. The incidence of hyponatraemia in this group of patients is small. However the potentially severe affects of hyponatraemia warrant close monitoring of these patients and the establishment of methods to prevent this problem from occurring.