Management of diarrhoea in practice.

ABSTRACT

Diarrhoea, a major cause of morbidity and mortality can be produced by a variety of etiological factors. Management protocol includes assessment of the child, physical examination, lab-evaluation, assessment of severity of dehydration and rehydration therapy using either of the following - WHO - ORS, Home available fluids (HAF), sugar salt solution (SSS), improve WHO-ORS, Amino acid fortified ORS, rice based ORS, low osmolarity ORS. Intravenous fluids are required if patients can't accept orally. Commonly observed electrolyte disturbances are hypernatremia, hyponatremia and hypokalemia. Concussion is a common problem and can result due to electrolyte imbalance, cavernous sinus thrombosis, associated meningitis, shigella encephalopathy and hypoglycemia in undernourished children. Treatment includes i.v. diazepam and i.v. glucose and correction of electrolyte imbalance. Additional treatment interventions include antimicrobial drugs including antibiotics, antimotility drugs, absorbents, nutritional and micro and macro nutrient supplementation.