Do You Give Normal Saline for Hypernatremia?

Patients should be given intravenous 5% dextrose for acute hypernatremia or half-normal saline (0.45% sodium chloride) for chronic hypernatremia if unable to tolerate oral water.

Can normal saline cause hypernatremia?

In general, normal saline will not cause hypernatremia, as the kidney can generate free water by producing hypertonic urine. Prolonged administration of normal saline to a patient who is avidly fluid restricted could cause hypernatremia.

Will normal saline raise sodium levels?

Alternatively, the combination of intravenous normal saline and diuresis with a loop diuretic (eg, furosemide) also elevates the serum sodium concentration. This latter approach is often useful for patients with high urine osmolality, because the loop diuretic acts to reduce urine osmolality.