Abstract
Introduction: Diarrhoea is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality across all age groups and regions of the world. Electrolyte imbalances are very common with the severity of acute diarrhoea. The aim of present study was to study the Serum Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium levels in patients of acute diarrhea. Materials and methods: This was a descriptive longitudinal study carried out in Department of Medicine, of PRH, Loni. Patients of diagnosed of acute diarrhea of age 18 and above of either gender willing to participate by giving written informed consent were included in the study. Patients with history of electrolyte abnormalities, history of chronic gastroenteritis, irritable bowel disease, congestive cardiac failure, liver cirrhosis, renal diseases, history of any disease deranging serum electrolyte levels and those on diuretics or any drugs which causes electrolyte imbalance were excluded from the study. Patients included in the study were subjected to demographic profile and serum electrolytes before and after treatment. Results: 100 patients were included in the study. Male patients were more in number (56) as compared to female patients. Signs of dehydration were present in 70 patients. The patients suffering from hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypocalcaemia and hypomagnesaemia were 23, 35, 78 and 84 respectively. Thus electrolyte imbalances are quite common in patients suffering from acute diarrhea. On comparing the serum Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium levels before and after treatment, statistically significant difference was seen. It was not significant for serum Potassium levels. Conclusion: Electrolyte imbalances are quite common in patients suffering from acute diarrhea. The serum electrolytes of patients suffering from acute diarrhea should be routinely examined to rule out electrolyte abnormalities and prompt treatment.
Keywords: Acute diarrhea; Adults; Serum electrolytes.