Potassium Supplementation May Be Associated With Improved Survival in Intensive Care Unit Patients with Abnormal Blood Microbiology Samples

Authors

• John Kimbrough
• Vojte Huser

Abstract

Introduction: ICU patients with abnormal blood samples showing infection are often treated with antimicrobials. Some drugs not traditionally considered antimicrobials such as beta blockers have been shown to help septic patients. We screened the study population for frequently used drugs not traditionally considered antimicrobials. Here, we test the hypothesis that another drug not typically considered an antimicrobial, potassium supplementation, alters the ICU survival of patients with blood samples demonstrating infection. Methods: We examined deidentified patient data and compared survival among infected patients with those who received potassium supplementation to those who did not. As a source of information, we used a freely available dataset of ICU patient information accessed via a data use agreement. Data were extracted via SQL queries and analyzed in R and Excel. Results: The study population (age >=18YO and

Scientific Focus Area: Epidemiology

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