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Chris's avatar

Judicious use of Calcium - all too often I’ve seen a knee jerk reaction to giving it for hyperkalaemia without ECG changes. In chronic dialysis patients this approach seems to increase calcification of vasculature . Reminding juniors calcium has no effect of potassium levels so it doesn’t become such an automatic response ..

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Ryan Radecki's avatar

Yes – while I don't think there's equipoise to refrain from treatment with calcium in the context of significant conduction abnormalities, there is likely room to address the issue you cite. You are certainly correct in saying some folks will empirically give calcium to treat a level absent evidence of impending complications, and there may be a way to design a prospective study to examine this practice.

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