Hi Bonnie! I am so sorry to hear that you went through such a scary experience at home! Often, the physicians keep us pit patients a few days post op, to watch for that, and also adrenal insufficiency. My electrolytes were also very unstable post op., and my doctors kept me an extra day in the hospital. When I was allowed to go home, (5 days in the hospital) I was asked to stay a couple of days in town so I was close to the hospital (just in case there were any problems) and after I flew home, I was instructed to see my pcp almost right away, with strict orders to run some metabolic labs weekly (I had to do 2 weeks worth), and faxed to the hospital, to ensure I was stable. I didn't have such a frightening experience as you. How scary! ![]() Thanks so much for raising this issue! Thanks for the link too! | http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/5/1395 | | Hyponatremia after transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors T Sane, K Rantakari, A Poranen, R Tahtela, M Valimaki and R Pelkonen
Third Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. We studied the incidence of postoperative hyponatremia in 91 consecutive patients (44 males and 47 females; age, 45 yr; range, 12- 76) operated on transsphenoidally for pituitary tumors. A postoperative serum sodium concentration less than 135 mmol/L (the lowest, 109 mmol/L) was observed in 32 (35%) patients. Hyponatremia occurred most commonly in patients operated on for Cushing's disease (11 of 18 patients; 61%). Hyponatremia was symptomatic in 18 (56%) of the patients. Neither the size nor the operability of the tumor or transient postoperative polyuria predicted the development of hyponatremia. Hyponatremia was first observed on the sixth or seventh postoperative day. The patients were treated with water restriction and by increasing the hydrocortisone replacement dose in the case of ACTH deficiency, and recovery took place, on the average, within 5 days. High urinary osmolality and plasma arginine vasopressin concentration during hyponatremia in a subgroup of study patients with these measurements indicated that inappropriate vasopressin secretion was involved in the pathogenesis of hyponatremia. In conclusion, postoperative hyponatremia after transsphenoidal surgery is common and may put the patients at increased risk of severe hyponatremic symptoms. Therefore, all patients should be screened for serum electrolytes for 1 week after transsphenoidal surgery.
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