The Serum Electrolyte Imbalance in Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the serum electrolyte imbalance in children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) aged 1-59 months. Study Design: It was a cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Six months from 1 March 2018 to 30 August 2018 at Nutrition Stabilization Centre of The Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health Multan. Materials and Methods: All the children between age group 1-59 months and admitted in Stabilization Centre of The Hospital and Institute of Child Health Multan with diagnosis of severe acute malnutrition during the study duration were included in this study. After inclusion criteria fulfilled sample was collected from 100 different patients and sent to Pathology department of Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health Multan 2+ 2+ + + for biochemical assessment. The serum was analyzed for Mg , Ca , K and Na by spectrophotometric method. All the data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 21. The percentages were calculated through SPSS. Results: Total 100 children with severe acute malnutrition were included in current study. 60 (60%) were male and 40 (40%) were female, mean age reported was 23.65 months. There were 66% cases presented with diarrhea. Hypokalemia was found in 23 (23%) children and hyponatremia was present in 28 (28%) children. Mean of sodium & potassium were 138.96 (8.692) and 3.06 (+1.7517) respectively. Mean (S.D) of calcium and magnesium were 8.51 (1.58) and 2.23 (2.38) respectively. Conclusion: Electrolyte imbalance is common in children with severe acute malnutrition with or without diarrhea. Determination of electrolyte profile of children with severe acute malnutrition admitted at stabilization centers in Pakistan should be ensured to reduce the mortality and morbidity.

Keywords

• diarrhea, electrolytes imbalance, severe acute malnutrition (sam).