Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia: 2019...

Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is defined by a serum or plasma sodium concentration below the normal reference range of 135 mmol·L^-1 that occurs during or up to 24 h after prolonged physical activity. It is reported to occur in individual physical activities or during organized endurance events conducted in environments in which medical care is limited and often not available, and patient evacuation to definitive care is often greatly delayed. Rapid recognition and appropriate treatment are essential in the severe form to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome. To mitigate the risk of EAH mismanagement, care providers in the prehospital and in hospital settings must differentiate from other causes that present with similar signs and symptoms. EAH most commonly has overlapping signs and symptoms with heat exhaustion and exertional heat stroke. Failure in this regard is a recognized cause of worsened morbidity and mortality. In an effort to produce best practice guidelines for EAH management, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel in May 2018. The panel was charged with updating the WMS Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia published in 2014 using evidence-based guidelines for the prevention, recognition, and treatment of EAH. Recommendations are made based on presenting with symptomatic EAH, particularly when point-of-care blood sodium testing is unavailable in the field. These recommendations are graded on the basis of the quality of supporting evidence and balanced between the benefits and risks/burdens for each parameter according to the methodology stipulated by the American College of Chest Physicians.