Known brand names include K-Tab and Klor-Con.
A potassium salt used to treat and prevent low potassium (hypokalemia). Extended-release tablets are used when diet changes or lower diuretic doses are not enough; diluted IV potassium is used when oral replacement is not feasible.
Potassium chloride puts back potassium, the main mineral inside the body's cells, where a pumping system keeps its level far higher than in the blood. Cells need that potassium to carry nerve signals and to make muscles contract, especially the heart. Potassium also supports normal kidney function and helps the body use sugar and build protein. The chloride matters too, because a shortage of either potassium or chloride leads to a shortage of the other.
The kidneys do not hold on to potassium well, so it keeps leaving in the urine even when little comes in, and supplements replace that loss. The wax shell of the extended-release tablet is not absorbed and may show up in the stool, which does not mean the medicine failed. Because potassium helps run the heartbeat, undiluted IV potassium has caused fatal heart rhythm problems and cardiac arrest, and running it in too fast can push potassium dangerously high. People with weak kidneys can build up potassium, and tablets that sit against the gut lining can cause ulcers or narrowing.
Potassium chloride treats and prevents low potassium in the blood. Potassium is a mineral the heart, kidneys, muscles, nerves, and digestive system need to work properly. Some illnesses, such as kidney disease or stomach and bowel illness with vomiting and diarrhea, and some drugs, especially water pills, drain potassium from the body. The goal is to replace what was lost and keep the level from dropping again.
The extended-release tablets are used when eating more potassium-rich foods or lowering a water pill dose has not been enough, and they are taken with meals and swallowed whole. Given by IV, it is first mixed into a larger volume of IV fluid and is used when potassium cannot be replaced by mouth. The tablets have not been shown to be safe and effective in children. The IV form is not used when potassium is already high, in kidney failure, or in conditions where the body holds on to potassium.
Taken by mouth, it can cause nausea, vomiting, gas, stomach pain, and diarrhea. Given by IV, it can sting and irritate the vein, especially when it runs in fast. The label treats high potassium as the main danger, with tingling, weakness, confusion, low blood pressure, and heart rhythm problems that can stop the heart. It also warns that undiluted or fast IV potassium can be fatal, that tablets can injure the gut, and that IV fluid can leak out of the vein or overload the body with fluid.