The lack of effect of routine magnesium administration on respiratory function in mechanically ventilated patients.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Magnesium.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 20 patients taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Prospective study of mechanically ventilated patients using a double-blind crossover design.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Magnesium and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Magnesium, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Magnesium could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Magnesium and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

A combined medical-surgical ICU of a university teaching hospital.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Intensive Care Units, Magnesium, Respiration, Artificial, Respiratory Insufficiency and Respiratory Mechanics.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Magnesium in 20 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1993 (Chest), a journal based in United States.

More context: the related Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc library page, all human trials.