A Critical Appraisal of Blood Urea and Electrolytes in Severe Primary Protein Energy Malnutrition: A Guide to Prevent Management Pitfalls

Abstract

Blood urea and electrolytes were determined in 30 severely malnourished children and 10 well nourished children who acted as controls. The mean ages of the subjects were 1.44 and 1.55 years for PEM and controls respectively. The mean values for sodium, potassium and urea of the malnourished children were 129.9+9.7, 2.3+0.8 and 4.9+2.3 mmol/L respectively. The corresponding figures for the controls were 136.8+1.8, 3.9+0.3 and 6.2+1.1. All the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.001).


Keywords: Malnutrition, Electrolytes, blood urea.


Nigerian Medical Practitioner 46(2) 2004: 30-32