Description
Loop diuretics are widely used in elderly patients but with varying degrees of success. The commonest errors are misjudgement of loop diuretic dosage, failure to potentiate a diuresis by exploiting sequential nephron blockade and halting a diuresis by inducing excess contraction of the effective circulating volume. Failures can be minimised by combining clinical shrewdness with physiological and pharmacological principles. It is almost always possible to achieve an adequate diuresis in hypervolumaemic patients.
