Abstract
Background: Lactated Ringers reduced mortality more than saline in sepsis patients but increased mortality more than saline in traumatic brain injury patients. Method: This prospective cohort study included sepsis patients and identified heart, lung, liver, kidney, and endocrine comorbidities by detailed history taking and routine admission survey such as HbA1C, and liver functions. We evaluate resuscitation response with central venous pressure, central venous oxygen saturation, and serum lactate level simultaneously. Propensity-score matching and Cox regression were used to estimate 60-day mortality. The competing risk model compared the lengths of hospital and ICU stays with the subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR). Mixed-effect linear models were used to fit clinical variables and electrolyte trends.Results: Overall, 874 patients were included in the analysis; 636 patients were in the saline group, and 302 patients were in the lactated Ringers group. The lactated Ringers group had a lower mortality rate (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% CI 0.43-0.81) and shorter lengths of hospital (SHR, 1.39; 95% C.I. 1.15-1.67) and ICU stays (SHR, 1.41; 95% CI 1.17, 1.71) than the saline group; the differences were greater in patients with chronic pulmonary disease and small and nonsignificant in those with chronic kidney disease, moderate to severe liver disease and cerebral vascular disease. The resuscitation efficacy was the same between fluid types, but serum lactate levels were significantly higher in the lactated Ringers group than in the saline group (0.12 mg/dL/hour; 95% C.I.: 0.03, 0.21), especially in chronic liver disease patients receiving lactated Ringers. The serum potassium level increased within the first few hours and recovered more slowly in patients with chronic kidney disease regardless of fluid type. Compared to the saline group, the lactated Ringers group achieved target glucose level earlier in both diabetes and non-diabetes patients.Conclusion: Patients receiving lactated Ringers had lower mortality and shorter lengths of hospital and ICU stays than those receiving saline, especially patients with chronic pulmonary disease, but there were no differences in those with chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease and cerebral vascular disease. Comorbidities are important for clinicians to consider before choosing a fluid type.