Incidence, clinical manifestations, and course of water and electrolyte metabolism disturbances following transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgery: a prospective observational study

Abstract

Water and electrolyte disturbances occurred in the majority of patients undergoing transsphenoidal adenomectomy and were usually transient. Diabetes insipidus is more frequent than hyponatremia. Diabetes insipidus usually occurs during the 1st postoperative day and resolves in the majority of cases within 10 days. In few patients, DI may persist and require therapy with ADH analogs. Hyponatremia usually occurs at the end of the 1st postoperative week and resolves in most cases within 5 days. Very few patients will need treatment other than fluid-intake restriction to avoid serious complications. Thus, careful monitoring of the WEDs in patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgery is mandatory for the first 10 postoperative days.