Bilal Asma, Sadiq Mohammad Arif, Haider Nighat
FCPS Trainee at Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Department of Pathology at Combined Military Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc. 2016 Sep;66(9):1077-1080.
To determine the frequency of hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia in malnourished children with acute diarrhoea.
This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from September 2013 to March 2014, and comprised acute diarrhoea patients whose ages ranged from six months to five years. Blood samples for serum sodium and potassium were examined at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Patients were labelled as having hyponatraemia, hypokalaemia, both or having normal serum sodium and potassium levels.
Of the 80 patients, 49(61.3%) were boys and 31(38.7%) were girls with an overall mean age of 1.9±1.4 years. Besides, 41(51.3%) were aged below one year. The mean duration of diarrhoea was 3.2±1.7 days, with 53(66%) patients having the illness for 1-3 days. Hyponatraemia was observed in 26(32.5%) patients and hypokalaemia in 44(55%), whereas 10(12.5%) had no electrolyte imbalance. None of the participants had hypernatraemia or hyperkalaemia.
Electrolyte disturbances among malnourished children may not be clinically evident, but diarrhoeal illness aggravated these imbalances.
确定患有急性腹泻的营养不良儿童低钠血症和低钾血症的发生率。
这项横断面研究于2013年9月至2014年3月在巴基斯坦拉瓦尔品第的军事医院进行，研究对象为年龄在6个月至5岁之间的急性腹泻患者。血清钠和钾的血样在武装部队病理研究所进行检测。患者被标记为患有低钠血症、低钾血症、两者皆有或血清钠和钾水平正常。
80例患者中，49例（61.3%）为男孩，31例（38.7%）为女孩，总体平均年龄为1.9±1.4岁。此外，41例（51.3%）年龄在1岁以下。腹泻的平均持续时间为3.2±1.7天，53例（66%）患者患病1 - 3天。26例（32.5%）患者出现低钠血症，44例（55%）出现低钾血症，而10例（12.5%）没有电解质失衡。所有参与者均未出现高钠血症或高钾血症。
营养不良儿童的电解质紊乱在临床上可能不明显，但腹泻疾病会加重这些失衡。
