Final answer:
Normal saline (NS) is often preferred over Lactated Ringer's (LR) in situations such as neurosurgery and when administering blood transfusions to avoid complications such as cerebral edema and clotting. The isotonic nature of both solutions is crucial to prevent red blood cell hemolysis.
Step-by-step explanation:
Normal saline (NS) is preferred over Lactated Ringer's (LR) solution in certain clinical situations.
For example, NS is often used during neurosurgery because it has a lower risk of causing cerebral edema compared to LR which contains potassium. Additionally, NS is typically used when administering blood transfusions, as it does not contain calcium, which can lead to clotting when calcium reacts with the citrate in stored blood. It's crucial that these intravenous solutions are isotonic since an isotonic solution has the same osmolarity as blood, which is essential for preventing hemolysis of red blood cells. This is because a solution with different osmolarity would cause red blood cells to swell or shrink, leading to cell damage or destruction.