Mannitol is comparable to hypertonic saline for raised intracranial pressure in Acute Liver Failure (MAHAL Study): A RCT.

BACKGROUND Raised intracranial pressure due to cerebral edema (CE) is central to development of hepatic encephalopathy in ALF. Mannitol (MT) & Hypertonic saline (HS) has been shown to improve CE. We compared the efficacy & safety of the two modalities Methods: ALF with CE were prospectively randomized in an open study to receive either 5 ml/kg of either 3% HS, as continuous infusion; titrated every 6 hourly to achieve serum sodium of 2: 38.4% vs.40%]. Overall, 61.5% patients in HS and 56% in MN group showed reduction in ICP at 12 hr. (p=0.25). Rebound increase in ICP indices was noted in 5(20%) patients in MT and none in HS (p<0.05) group. New onset acute kidney injury was commoner in MT than HS group. The ICU stay, and 28-day transplant free survival were not different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS While both agents had comparable efficacy in reducing ICP and mortality in ALF patients was comparable, HS was significantly better in preventing reducing rebound CE with lower renal dysfunction.