[Oral rehydration solutions with 60 or 90 nmol/L of sodium for infants with acute diarrhea in accord with their nutritional status].

A total of 186 infants suffering from dehydration due to acute diarrhea were studied and divided into two groups: 84 children were placed in group A and received the oral rehydration solution (ORS) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), know as ORS-90 and those placed in group B were given an ORS with 60 and 90 mmol/L of sodium and glucose, respectively, with an osmolality of 240 mOsm/kg (ORS-60). Seven patients from group A (8.3%) and two from group B (2.5%) could not be orally rehydrated and required intravenous rehydration. The children were divided according to their weight for their age into eutrophics, grade I malnutrition (10 to 25% deficit), grade II (26 to 40% deficit) and grade III (more than 40% deficit). In those patients who evolved favorably, the average rehydration time was 4.5 to 5.3 hours, independently from their nutritional state. In the same way, no important variations were seen in the average sodium and potassium serum levels once the dehydration was corrected, in either of the groups. Yet, both groups showed a persistence in hypokalemia and hyperkalemia seen when admitted, once the dehydration was corrected, demonstrating that the short time needed for the correction of the dehydration was insufficient to completely corrected the changes in serum potassium. Closer studies must be conducted on the hydric balance to adequately demonstrate if the new ORS-60 induces lesser losses through vomiting and feces when compared to the ORS-90 recommended by the WHO.