Comparison of the Calculated and Measured Osmolality in Intracranial Bleeding and Head Injury Patients

Açıkgöz, Serefden; Can, Murat; Mungan, A. Görkem; Ataymen, Meryem; Sümbüloglu, Vildan; Gül, Sanser

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.11.075

« Previous Next »The Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 36, Issue 2 , Pages 217-219, February 2009

Comparison of the Calculated and Measured Osmolality in Intracranial Bleeding and Head Injury Patients

Serefden Açıkgöz, MD
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey
Murat Can, MD
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey
- Reprint Address: Murat Can, md, Department of Biochemistry, Karaelmas University, Kozlu, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
A. Görkem Mungan, MD
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey
Meryem Ataymen, MD
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey
Vildan Sümbüloglu, PhD
- Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey
Sanser Gül, MD
- Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey

Received 12 March 2007; accepted 14 November 2007. published online 20 May 2008.

Abstract

Not all clinical laboratories have an osmometer, and calculations for osmolality are a frequently used method for determining osmolality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of four formulas for the estimation of osmolality, with cryoscopic measurement as the reference standard in intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and head injury (HI) patients who were not treated with mannitol. Forty HI and 31 ICH patients treated in the Neurosurgery Department were included in the study. Every 6 h over a period of 24 h, serum samples were collected from patients and osmolality was measured. In conclusion, our study shows that only formulas F1 [Osmolality = 1.86(Na) + 1.86(K) + Glucose + Urea] and F4 [Osmolality = 1.86(Na) + Glucose + Urea + Ethanol + 9] can be used to evaluate osmolality in ICH patients who were not treated with mannitol. In HI patients, none of the formulas should be used to calculate osmolality.

Keywords: measured osmolality, calculated osmolality, intracranial hemorrhage, head injury