A nurse is caring for a 7-year-old child in the pediatric intensive care unit who has increased intracranial pressure as a result of head trauma. the healthcare provider prescribes intravenous mannitol. the nurse monitors the child's intracranial pressure and urine output because mannitol belongs to which classification of diuretics?

There are choices for this question namely:

Loop

Osmotic

Potassium sparing

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor

The correct answer is "osmotic". Osmotic diuretics such as mannitol exert an osmotic pressure in the renal tubules that "pull" the water from the interstitium to the tubules therefore increasing urine output (and subsequently diluting sodium). Osmotic diuretics are commonly used to treat increased intracranial pressure secondary to cerebral edema.