Hyperkalaemia in Trauma

This set includes retrospectively collected data from a Level-1 trauma centre in Austria.
With these data, we conducted a retrospective cohort study on adult patients with traumatic bleeding admitted to a European Major Trauma Centre between January 2016 and December 2021. Patients were classified according to their serum potassium levels on arrival, and relevant clinical parameters between non-hyperkalaemic and hyperkalaemic patients were compared.
Among the 83 patients in this study, 11 (13.3%) presented with hyperkalaemia on arrival. The median shock index showed a higher tendency in the hyperkalaemic group. Hyperkalaemia was found to be more prevalent among younger patients who sustained penetrating trauma. Mortality rates were higher in the hyperkalaemic group, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Our results suggest that hyperkalaemia is prevalent in bleeding trauma patients on hospital arrival pre-transfusions, suggesting a more severe illness. Our findings provide insights into the pathophysiology and characteristics of hyperkalaemia in bleeding trauma patients. Further studies are required to investigate the mechanisms by which hyperkalaemia contributes to mortality in haemorrhagic shock patients.