Is intravenous magnesium sulphate safe to be administered outside the critical care setting?

Aim: To review current evidence regarding the safety of intravenous bolus magnesium sulphate for the treatment of children with acute severe asthma in the non-critical care setting.

Methods: MEDLINE via Ovid, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles.

Results: Four hundred and eighteen articles were identified during the initial search after removal of duplicates. Eighty full-text articles were selected for review and 16 included as relevant to the clinical question.

Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that bolus intravenous magnesium sulphate is safe to be administered in non-critical care settings provided that line of sight nursing and cardiorespiratory monitoring are available.