Background: Intravenous (IV) loop diuretics are recommended to relieve vascular congestion in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF); however, initial dosing is often empirical. Strong evidence supporting individualized diuretic dosing in the emergency department (ED) is lacking.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of aggressive (≥2 daily home doses) and conservative (<2 daily home doses) initial doses of loop diuretic.
Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study in adult patients presenting to the ED with ADHF at an academic medical center from Apri 2015 to September 2015. The primary outcome was time to transition from IV to oral diuretics.
Results: A total of 91 patients were included (aggressive dosing, n = 44; conservative dosing, n = 47). Mean time to transition from IV to oral diuretics was 67.9 hours in the aggressive group compared with 88.1 hours in the conservative group ( P = 0.049). Mean hospital length of stay (LOS) was 119.5 hours in the aggressive group versus 123.0 hours in the conservative group ( P = 0.799). No differences were observed between the mean urine output ( P = 0.829), change in body weight ( P = 0.528), or serum creatinine ( P = 0.135).
Conclusion: Patients who received an aggressive initial diuretic dose in the ED had a significantly faster time to oral diuretic therapy without any significant differences in hospital LOS, urine output, change in body weight, and renal function when compared with conservative dosing.
Keywords: emergency department; heart failure; initial dose; loop diuretic; resolution.