Elsayed ME, Schick B, Woywodt A, Palmer BF. The hypokalaemia that came from the cold.
Clin Kidney J 2023;
16:768-772. [PMID:
37151424 PMCID:
PMC10157748 DOI:
10.1093/ckj/sfad036]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
While electrolyte disorders are common in nephrologists' clinical practice, hypothermia is a condition that nephrologists rarely encounter. Hypothermia can induce several pathophysiological effects on the human body, including hypokalaemia, which is reversible with rewarming. Despite growing evidence from animal research and human studies, the underlying mechanisms of hypothermia-induced hypokalaemia remain unclear. Boubes and colleagues recently presented a case series of hypokalaemia during hypothermia and rewarming, proposing a novel hypothesis for the underlying mechanisms. In this editorial, we review the current knowledge about hypothermia and associated electrolyte changes with insights into the effects of hypothermia on renal physiology.
Collapse