Too many heart failure patients are treated with IV fluids, study finds

Many patients hospitalized with severe heart failure are receiving potentially harmful treatment with intravenous fluids, a Yale-led study has found. The observational study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Heart Failure, is the first to examine use of common IV fluids in hospitalized heart failure patients. Heart failure patients are commonly treated with diuretics to avoid excess fluid buildup and to improve symptoms. However, many hospitalized patients also often receive IV fluids during early care in hospitals. Because the administration of IV fluids may worsen the congestive symptoms, Yale researchers decided to investigate the use of IV fluids in patients with heart failure. The researchers reviewed data from over 130,000 hospitalizations of patients with decompensated heart failure who received IV fluids during the first two days. They found that 11% of the patients were treated with IV fluids in addition to diuretics.