Electrolyte Blood Press.  2010 Dec;8(2):82-86.

Recent Advances of Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)

• Suh JS
• Hahn WH
• Cho BS

Abstract

Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of worldwide morbidity and mortality, especially in children. It causes loss of body fluid, which may lead to severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, shock and even to death. The mortality rate from acute diarrhea has decreased over the last few decades. This decline, especially in developing countries is largely due to the implantation of the standard World Health Organization-oral rehydration solution (WHO-ORS). However, the use of standard ORS has been limited by its inability to reduce fecal volume or diarrhea duration. Subsequently, this has led to various attempts to modify its compositions. And these modifications include the use of reduced osmolarity ORS, polymer-based ORS and zinc supplementation. Some of these variations have been successful and others are still under investigation. Therefore, further trials are needed to progress toward the ideal ORS. In this article, we briefly reviewed the pathophysiologic basis of the ORS, followed by the standard WHO-ORS and several modifications to improve the ORS.

Keyword

oral rehydration solution; acute diarrhea; child

MeSH Terms

Bicarbonates
Body Fluids
Child
Dehydration
Developing Countries
Diarrhea
Electrolytes
Fluid Therapy
Glucose
Humans
Osmolar Concentration
Potassium Chloride
Shock
Sodium Chloride
World Health
World Health Organization
Zinc
Bicarbonates
Electrolytes
Glucose
Potassium Chloride
Sodium Chloride
Zinc

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