Clinical Significance of Bicarbonate Gap in Pediatric Patients with Acute Gastroenteritis

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical value of bicarbonate gap (BG) in acute gastroenteritis by comparison of clinical manifestations and laboratory findings. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 135 patients who had acute gastroenteritis. We classified them into two groups BG-5 (group B). We made a comparative study for clinical manifestations, serum electrolyte, albumin, protein, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, anion gap (AG), delta anion gap (deltaAG) and delta bicarbonate (deltaHCO3-) between the two groups. RESULTS: The duration of hospitalization and diarrhea was significantly longer in group A than group B. In laboratory findings, serum sodium, serum total CO2, total protein, AGcorrected and deltaAG were lower in group A than group B. deltaHCO3- and chloride were higher in group A than group B. CONCLUSION: BG may be a sensitive predictor enough to access the severity of acute gastroenteritis.