{"id":25271,"date":"2025-09-10T11:13:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=25271"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:02:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T11:02:54","slug":"hypomagnesaemia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/laboratoryservices\/hypomagnesaemia\/","title":{"rendered":"Hypomagnesaemia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>GPs are not expected to screen for, or monitor, magnesium levels and this guidance is intended to help in the uncommon situation where GPs are contacted about a low magnesium result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hypomagnesaemia is generally diagnosed in two ways in the primary care setting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Where there is a VERY LOW CALCIUM (eg &lt;1.9) where the labs will \u2018reflexly\u2019 test for hypomagnesaemia which is probably driving this. The likely outcome would be admission for intravenous calcium and magnesium. This is a very rare event and most commonly associated with long-term PPI use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sporadic cases \u2013 often diagnosed during an inpatient stay, relating to acute illness and outlined in the guidance below.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Symptoms of low serum magnesium are non-specific, but the more severe cases are associated with conditions often needing hospital admission.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Magnesium-guide-FINAL-25-Sept-2025-724x1024.png\" alt=\"Magnesium Guide\" class=\"wp-image-25281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Magnesium-guide-FINAL-25-Sept-2025-724x1024.png 724w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Magnesium-guide-FINAL-25-Sept-2025-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Magnesium-guide-FINAL-25-Sept-2025-768x1086.png 768w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Magnesium-guide-FINAL-25-Sept-2025.png 794w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" \/><figcaption><span class=\"media-credit\">NHS Lothian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>CM &amp; SJ 25.09.25<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p>1. Ayuk J, Gittoes NJ. Contemporary view of the clinical relevance of magnesium homeostasis. Ann Clin Biochem. 2014 Mar;51(Pt 2):179-88. doi: 10.1177\/0004563213517628. Epub 2014 Jan 8. PMID: 24402002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. ZS. Agus. Hypomagnesaemia. J.Am. Soc. Nephrol. 1999, 10:1616-1622.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. The communication of critical and unexpected pathology results (Royal College of Pathologists, 2017) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcpath.org\/static\/bb86b370-1545-4c5a-b5826a2c431934f5\/The-communication-of-critical-and-unexpected-pathology-results.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Microsoft Word &#8211; Comm Crit Results Final version.docx (rcpath.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. BMJ Best Practice Assessment in Magnesium Deficiency (Updated 16 July2024)<a href=\"https:\/\/bestpractice.bmj.com\/topics\/en-gb\/1137\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assessment of magnesium deficiency &#8211; Differential diagnosis of symptoms | BMJ Best Practice<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. East Region Formulary (<a href=\"https:\/\/formulary.nhs.scot\/east\/nutrition-and-blood\/fluid-and-electrolyte-imbalances\/hypomagnesaemia\/?m=treatment-of-hypomagnesaemia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Formulary | East Region Formulary (nhs.scot<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/formulary.nhs.scot\/east\/nutrition-and-blood\/fluid-and-electrolyte-imbalances\/hypomagnesaemia\/?m=treatment-of-hypomagnesaemia\">)<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Hypomagnesia \u2013 a guideline for GPs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruh.nhs.uk\/pathology\/documents\/clinical_guidelines\/PATH021_Hypomagnesaemia_Guideline.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ruh.nhs.uk\/pathology\/documents\/clinical_guidelines\/PATH021_Hypomagnesaemia_Guideline.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GPs are not expected to screen for, or monitor, magnesium levels and this guidance is intended to help in the uncommon situation where GPs are contacted about a low magnesium result. Hypomagnesaemia is generally diagnosed in two ways in the primary care setting: Symptoms of low serum magnesium are non-specific, but the more severe cases<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":4080,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1316],"class_list":["post-25271","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-hypomagnesaemia"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/laboratoryservices\/https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-hypomagnesaemia\/\" rel=\"tag\">Hypomagnesaemia<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"GPs are not expected to screen for, or monitor, magnesium levels and this guidance is intended to help in the uncommon situation where GPs are contacted about a low magnesium result. Hypomagnesaemia is generally diagnosed in two ways in the primary care setting: Symptoms of low serum magnesium are non-specific, but the more severe cases","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25271"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25468,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25271\/revisions\/25468"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}