Pattern of electrolyte imbalance in childhood acute diarrhea

Objective: to estimate the pattern of different electrolyte imbalances i.e. sodium,potassium,calcium and magnesium among children between 3 months to 5 years with acute diarrhea. study design: descriptive study - case series. place and duration of study: pediatric unit of shaikh zayed hospital,lahore from 21st january 2007 to 21st july 2007. methodology: it was a descriptional study. total of two hundred cases fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled. electrolyte levels were measured in all patients. data was noted on proforma and analyzed. results: patients of 3 months to 5 years of age were included. majority of children were less than 2 years of age (87%). hypokalemia (28.5%) is found to be more frequent electrolyte abnormality followed by hyponatremia (24.5%) and hypernatremia (7.5%). electrolyte abnormalities increased as the diarrhea prolonged. thirty eight percent of hypokalemia and 29% of hyponatremia was present in a diarrhea duration of more than 5 days as compared to 19.5% and 20.9% for hypokalemia and hyponatremia respectively in less than 2 days duration. electrolyte imbalance occurred more frequently in a group who did not receive any rehydration fluid,53% of hypokalemia and 49% of hyponatremia was found. while in children who received ors hypokalemia was 17.1% and hyponatremia was 14.0%. hypernatremia was found in 6.5% in ors group,7% in those who received both ors and intravenous fluids and 12% in group who received nothing. electrolyte abnormalities occurred more in patients who were severely dehydrated as 45% of hypokalemia,39% of hyponatremia and 16% of hypernatremia was present in children with severe dehydration as compared to 14% cases of hypokalemia and 11% cases of hyponatremia in no dehydration. however,hypernatremia was not observed in nondehydrated children. conclusion: electrolyte disturbances occur frequently in cases of acute watery diarrhea. early and proper use of ors in diarrhea can prevent this problem. © 2015,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.