The natremia in the oncology wards: a hospital-based combine study

Abstract

Author(s): Rafid Adil Abood Alkhalidy*

Imbalance in natremia is a common electrolyte disturbance in patients’ bodies, and it may play important roles in prognosis or mortality outcomes. This study aims to estimate, determine, and assess the imbalance in sodium concentration in cancer patients. It is a hospital-based combined cross-sectional-case-control study conducted at an oncology ward. The serum levels of sodium and urinary sodium were measured using a single sample, and the analysis was performed using the Ion selective electrode/dimension RXL/MAX device (ACCU, China). One-hundred control serum sodium levels were measured from non-cancer patients who met the same exclusion criteria. Patients were categorized into three groups based on their serum sodium levels. The most frequent cancer type observed was breast cancer, followed by colorectal cancer. The main reasons for admission were supportive care (48.8%) and chemotherapy (51.2%). The mean age of the patients was comparable to that of the control group, with 47.58 ± 12.88 years and 48.25 ± 11.9 years, respectively. Most patients (after 3 days of admission) exhibited euonatremia. Only six out of 250 cancer cases and four out of 100 healthy subjects had hypernatremia. The cancer group had a lower mean serum sodium level than the healthy group. A significant association was found between different chemotherapeutic agents and serum sodium status. The prevalence of hyponatremia is higher in cancer cases, and the prevalence of hypo-osmolar hyponatremia can be detected. Hyponatremia is common in the supportive care group due to the disease burden. Sodium salt wasting can be observed in cases of hyponatremia.

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