Case Report of Hyponatremic Seizures in a Term Neonate Attributed to Excessive Maternal Coconut Water Ingestion During Labor.

We report the case of a term neonate who was somnolent at birth with ventilatory distress and experienced 2 seizures shortly after delivery. Laboratory tests revealed the neonate had a serum sodium of 113 mmol/L. The seizures stopped after treatment with midazolam, and the sodium was corrected slowly with 3% hypertonic saline without further sequelae. The severe neonatal hyponatremia and seizures were attributed to maternal consumption of excessive amounts of coconut water during labor. This case demonstrates the importance of careful consideration of both fluid volume and fluid electrolyte composition during labor to prevent adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Gaps in cognitive care among older patients undergoing spine surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Among older adults undergoing surgery, postoperative delirium is the most common complication. Cognitive impairment and dementia are major risk factors for postoperative delirium, yet they are frequently under-recognized. It is well established that applying delirium preventive interventions to at-risk individuals can reduce the likelihood of delirium by up to 40%. The aim of this study was to evaluate how often delirium preventive interventions are missing in patients at risk for delirium due to baseline cognitive impairment. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using data from the observational study Perioperative Anesthesia Neurocognitive Disorder Assessment-Geriatric (PANDA-G) and clinical data from the University of California San Francisco delirium prevention bundle. Patients age 65+ received preoperative multidomain cognitive assessment as part of a research protocol prior to undergoing inpatient spine surgery at a single major academic institution. Results of the cognitive testing were not available to clinical teams. Using electronic medical records, we evaluated if patients who were cognitively impaired at baseline received delirium prevention orders, sleep orders, and avoidance of AGS Beers Criteria® potentially inappropriate medications. RESULTS: Of the 245 patients included in the study, 42% were women. The mean [SD] age was 72 [5.2] years. Preoperative cognitive impairment was identified in 40% of participants (N = 98), and of these, 34% had postoperative delirium. Of patients with preoperative cognitive impairment, 45% did not receive delirium preventive orders, 43% received PIMs, and 49% were missing sleep orders. At least one of the three delirium preventive interventions was missing in 70% of the patients. DISCUSSION: Undiagnosed preoperative cognitive impairment among older adults undergoing spine surgery is common. When cognitive test results were not available to clinicians, patients with baseline cognitive impairment frequently did not receive evidence-based delirium preventive interventions. These findings highlight an opportunity to improve perioperative brain health care via preoperative cognitive assessment and clinical communication.