The Assessment of Sodium Load Inflicted by Intravenous Antibiotics

Summary

In patients with a critical sodium-fluid balance special attention should be paid to the sodium load resulting from medication.

Assessing this load requires accurate knowledge of the exact composition of the product including the active compound, the additives and the solvent. Calculations can be made on the basis of a simple equation which takes into account the molecular weights of the sodiumfree form and sodium-salt form.

Variations may be due to surdosage and varying degrees of purity. Package inserts of parenteral antibiotics are not sufficiently detailed to permit accurate calculations.

Therefore more extensive information has been gathered in order to assess the sodium load of parenteral antibiotics commercialized in Belgium.

These calculations show that problems are almost exclusively encountered with the betalactamines.