Intravenous hydration is intended to protect patients’ renal function during contrast-enhanced procedures, but it actually may be harming them.

Those were the findings of a new study published in the journal The Lancet.

Used in a wide range of medical procedures such as a CT scan or angiogram, approximately 75 million doses of contrast agents are administered globally each year, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
These contrast agents can cause acute kidney injury, also known as contrast-induced nephropathy, in some patients. Those with already poor renal function are at a higher risk, which accounts for about 10 percent of the global population.

Clinicians attempt to minimize damage by administering additional fluid intravenously to these high-risk patients during the procedures. This requires patients to be hospitalized for one or several days, which can dramatically increase procedural costs.

Researchers from Maastricht UMC+ in the Netherlands spent two years evaluating 660 patients with poor renal function. About half of the patients received intravenous hydration before the contrast-enhanced procedures.

They found that the rate of acute decrease in renal function was practically the same in both groups. In fact, 5.5 percent of the patients who received additional fluids experienced complications, including heart problems.

The current international guidelines on fluid administration to prevent renal damage have been in place for over six years. Because of their findings, the researchers are calling on the industry to take a critical look at the guidelines.

"Just think of the reduction in the number of hospitalization days per year alone,” Dr. Vincent van Ommen, interventional cardiologist and member of the research team, said in a statement. “It would spare the patient from unnecessary treatments and side effects, but would also save costs."

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