Clinical characteristics and outcomes of hyponatraemia associated with oral water intake in adults: a systematic review

Introduction Excessive water intake is rarely associated with life-threatening hyponatraemia. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of hyponatraemia associated with excess water intake. Methods This review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. All studies (case reports, observational or interventional studies) reporting excess water intake and hyponatraemia in adults (1946-2019) were included. Results A total of 2970 articles were identified and 177 were included (88.7% case reports), consisting of 590 patients. The mean age was 46 +/- 16 years (95% CI 44 to 48 years), 47% female, 52% had a chronic psychiatric disorder and 31% had no underlying condition. The median volume of water consumed and serum sodium at presentation was 8 L/day (95% CI 8.9 to 12.2 L/day) and 118 mmol/L (95% CI 116 to 118 mmol/L), respectively. The motivator for increased water consumption was psychogenic polydipsia (55%); iatrogenic (13%); exercise (12%); habitual/dipsogenic polydipsia (7%) and other reasons (13%). The clinical features on presentation were severe in 53% (seizures, coma); moderate in 35% (confusion, vomiting, agitation) and mild in 5% (dizziness, lethargy, cognitive deficit) and not reported in 5% of studies. Treatment was supportive in 41% of studies (fluid restriction, treatment of the underlying cause, emergency care), and isotonic and hypertonic saline was used in 18% and 28% of cases, respectively. Treatment-related complications included osmotic demyelination (3%) and rhabdomyolysis (7%), and death occurred in 13% of cases. Conclusion Water intoxication is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and requires daily intake to substantially exceed population-based recommendations. The limitations of this analysis are the low quality and high risk of bias of the included studies. PROSPERO registration number A pre-existing protocol in the international prospective register of systematic reviews was updated to incorporate any new amendments and reregistered at http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO (registration no. CRD42019129809).

Automated summary

This study reviewed case reports and studies from 1946 to 2019 on excess water intake and hyponatraemia. The results showed that water intoxication can lead to significant health risks and mortality, with treatment mainly consisting of supportive care and saline solutions.