Intravenous Fluid Therapy Is Associated with a Reduced Incidence of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy but not with a Reduced Long-Term Incidence of Renal Dysfunction After Cardiac Catheterization

Intravenous fluid (IVF) administration for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is considered standard of care, but the effect of IVF therapy on longer-term outcomes after radiocontrast dye administration is not well known. We studied 4367 patients undergoing coronary and peripheral angiography and intervention at a veterans' administration medical center. 2653 patients (61%) received IVF prior to the procedure and 1714 (39%) did not. Of the 4367 subjects 1962 (45%) had repeat creatinine values at 72 h and 3100 (70%) had repeat creatinine values at 3 months. CIN at 72 h occurred in 68 (6.7%) patients in the IVF group and in 87 patients (9.8%) in the group receiving no IVF (odds ratio [OR] 0.97; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.94–0.99; p = 0.004). At 3 months, renal dysfunction was seen in 224 (11.5%) patients of the IVF group versus 152 (13.1%) of the group receiving no IVF (OR 0.98, CI 0.96–1.01; p = 0.18). In adjusted analyses using a propensity score, IVF therapy was associated with a significant reduction in CIN occurrence at 72 h (OR = 0.97, (95% CI 0.94–0.99, p = 0.01) but was not associated with a change in the incidence of renal dysfunction at 3 months (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96–1.01. p = 0.18). In this cohort of US veterans, IVF administration was associated with a decreased incidence of CIN at 72 h but was not associated with a decreased incidence of renal dysfunction at 3 months. •Intravenous fluid therapy is recommended for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy, especially in patients at risk.•We investigated the association between intravenous fluids and contrast-induced nephropathy and nephropathy at 3 months.•We found that intravenous fluid therapy was associated with a decreased incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy.•However, intravenous fluid therapy was not associated with a decreased incidence of nephropathy at 3 months.