Journal article
Oral Rehydration in Children with Acute Diarrhoea and Moderate Dehydration-Effectiveness of an ORS Tolerance Test
Rhondi Kauna, Kone Sobi, Wendy Pameh, John D Vince, Trevor Duke
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2019
Abstract
Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is the mainstay of treatment of acute watery diarrhoea, but it is underutilized in many hospitals, resulting in children with moderate degrees of dehydration being unnecessarily hospitalized and receiving intravenous fluids. We aimed to assess the utility of an ORS tolerance test on initial presentation to an emergency department, and determine the volume of ORS a child with diarrhoea and moderate dehydration needed to tolerate to be successfully managed at home. One hundred and twenty-nine children with acute watery diarrhoea and moderate dehydration were given ORS and observed in a Children's Emergency Department (CED) over a period of 2-4 h. Patients were a..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Dr Wendy Pameh, one of the co-authors of this study, died from breast cancer in 2018, aged 47 years, after this project was completed and before it was published. Wendy was an outstanding academic general paediatrician with a special interest in adolescent health and community child health, a much loved and respected mentor to students and paediatric trainees, and a wonderful role model. She is sadly missed. The authors thank the RE Ross Trust (Victoria), for support for the publication of this paper, and to Child Health training and research in PNG.