Evaluation of Plasma-Lyte Versus Lactated Ringer's in Surgical Intensive Care Unit Trauma Patients as Fluid Resuscitation

In critically ill patients, fluid resuscitation with balanced crystalloids close to plasma osmolarity have a lower risk of electrolyte imbalances and demonstrated better clinical outcomes compared to normal saline (NS). While lactated ringer's (LR) has shown benefit over NS, plasma-lyte (PL) with a higher osmolarity and different electrolyte formulation is hypothesized to be superior. We performed a retrospective observational cohort study over 37 months at a tertiary hospital. Inclusion criteria were hospitalization in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), trauma indication, >= 18 years old, and received either PL or LR. All PL administrations and every fifth patient with LR as resuscitation were included in order to match the sample size in each group. Primary outcomes were SICU length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, and mortality. Secondary outcomes were biomarker changes from baseline. There were 113 patients in both PL and LR groups. The PL arm had higher APACHE II scores (16 vs 13, P = .033) and were more likely ventilated (39.3% vs 20.4%, P = .002) compared to LR. Median hospital LOS (12.0 vs 8.0, P < .001) and SICU LOS (6.0 vs 3.0, P < .001) are significantly longer in PL group compared to the LR group. However, there was no difference in in-hospital mortality (5.3% vs 3.5% P = .519) and SICU mortality (9.7% vs 5.3%, P > .208) between PL and LR. Overall, PL use was associated with prolonged hospital and SICU LOS. PL use did not demonstrate mortality benefit. However, patients were more critically ill in PL group based on higher APACHE II scores and higher rates of mechanical ventilation, which could be contributing to these unfavorable outcomes.