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Objectives: Acute gastroenteritis is a common illness that leads to significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric population. This study was aimed to determine the frequency of hyponatremia among hospitalized children having acute gastroenteritis. Study Design: Crosssectional Study. Setting: Unit-ll, Department of Pediatric Medicine, Nishtar Medical College and Hospital, Multan. Period: From 1st January 2018 to 30th June 2018. Material & Methods: A total of 232 children aged 1-12 years of either sex, clinically assessed cases of acute gastroenteritis with duration of illness < 7 days, were considered. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for quantitative variables while frequencies and percentage were tabulated for the qualitative variables. Post stratification chi-square test was applied to see effects of studied variables and P value <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Mean age of our study cases was 2.33 ± 2.11 years. Majority of patients, 135 (58.2%) were boys, 143 (61.6%) from urban areas and 161 (69.4%) were having poor socioeconomic status. History of hypotonic IV fluid therapy was positive in 18 (7.8%) and history of ORS intake was positive in 71 (30.6%). Mean duration of illness was 4.19 ± 1.27 days. Mean serum sodium level 135.37 ± 2.20 mEq/L. Hyponatremia was present in 90 (38.8%). Male gender, poor socioeconomic status, no use of hypotonic IV fluid therapy, no intake of ORS and disease duration of >3 days were significantly associated (P value < 0.05) with hyponatremia. Conclusion: Frequency of hyponatremia was high in children with AGE. Male children, poor socioeconomic status, no use of hypotonic IV fluid therapy, no intake of ORS and prolonged disease duration were significantly associated with hyponatremia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the frequency of hypomagnesaemia among children admitted in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Pediatric medicine, Unit-I, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Periods: From 1st August 2017 to 31st May 2018. Material & Methods: A total of 379 children of age group 1-12 years and either gender were admitted at PICU irrespective of presenting complaint with duration of illness less than 2 weeks were included. Post stratification chi-square test was applied to see the effect of different variables like age of the patients, BMI, duration of illness and serum Magnesium levels, hypomagnesaemia, residential status, socioeconomic status, mother's education and gender, on hypomagnesaemia. P value < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Of these 379 study cases, 221(58.3%) were boys while 158 (41.7%) were girls. Mean age of our study cases was 4.81 ± 2.27 years. Mean duration of illness was 5.57 ± 2.34 days. Mean weight of study cases was 17. 30 ± 5.92 kilograms. Mean serum Magnesium level was 1.45 ± 0.67 mg/dl. Hypomagnesemia was found to be present in 190 (50.1%). Male gender, urban residential status, illiteracy, hospitalization before PICU admission, disease duration of 1 to 2 weeks and weight < 20 kg turned out to be significantly associated (p < 0.05) with hypomagnesaemia. Conclusion: High frequency of hypomagnesaemia was noted among children admitted at PICU. Children with hypomagnesaemia had prolonged hospital stay and adverse outcomes. Hypomagnesaemia was significantly associated with male gender, residential status, mother's educational level, hospitalization before PICU admission, disease duration and weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]