Two experts discuss the ongoing debate.
NEJM Journal Watch General Medicine recently reviewed the results of a large randomized trial (PLUS Study), published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which outcomes were similar in intensive care unit patients who received balanced crystalloid and those who received normal saline (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 1 2022 and N Engl J Med 2022; 386:815). At almost the same time, a published meta-analysis of 13 trials showed slightly lower mortality in patients who received balanced crystalloid (NEJM Evidence 2022 Feb; 1:oa2100010). In this conversation, Dr. Patricia Kritek and Dr. Todd Rice discuss the ongoing controversy. Dr. Kritek is a professor and critical care specialist at the University of Washington and an associate editor of…