Slower magnesium drip may help sickest patients hold onto the mineral
NCT ID NCT01426165
First seen Sep 10, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Critically ill patients often have low magnesium, which can lead to heart rhythm problems and other complications. When magnesium is given through an IV, the body keeps only about half of it. Researchers are testing whether giving the same dose over 8 hours instead of 4 hours helps patients retain more magnesium. The study enrolls adults in a medical intensive care unit who have low magnesium and need IV replacement.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- magnesium sulfate given intravenously
- What this could lead to
- If slower infusions help the body hold onto more magnesium, doctors could adjust how they give this common mineral to critically ill patients with low levels.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small study of five patients in one hospital, so its results may not apply broadly. Magnesium infusions can affect heart rhythm and kidney function, and patients with kidney problems are excluded.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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5 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Apr 2011
- Finished
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Dec 2012
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: Medicine ICU service patients * \> 18 years old with * hypomagnesemia defined by a serum magnesium level \< 2 mg/dL and the clinical decision by the rounding team to replace with parenteral magnesium sulfate * must have an available IV line for magnesium infusion that may be used for up to 8 hours * must have a Foley catheter Exclusion Criteria: * renal dysfunction defined by an estimated creatinine clearance (CrCl) \< 30 mL/min or have had an average of \< 0.5 mL/kg/hr of urine output over the previous 12 hours before the magnesium infusion is to begin * Subjects must not have received a loop diuretic within the 12 hours prior to magnesium replacement and will further be excluded if they receive these medications during the magnesium replacement and urine collection time period * Subjects with ostomies or acute diarrhea will be excluded due to the possibility of high gastrointestinal magnesium loss * Subjects will be excluded if they have a physician order for magnesium sulfate to be infused over a specified time period * If subjects are expected to be moved out of the ICU within the next 24 hours, they will not be considered for randomization due to potential lack of appropriate urine magnesium collection and follow up * Each subject may only be enrolled in the study for one occurrence of hypomagnesemia
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Charleston Area Medical Center
Charleston, West Virginia, 25301, United States