Hypoglycemia complicating dehydration due to acute gastroenteritis.

To identify clinical variables predictive of hypoglycemia in dehydrated children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE), clinical variables were recorded for dehydrated children younger than 5 years old with AGE before measuring serum glucose. One hundred and eighty-four children were enrolled; 62 with, and 122 without, hypoglycemia. Multivariate analysis identified variables associated with hypoglycemia. Female gender, neurologic symptoms of hypoglycemia, and a greater amount of vomiting vs. diarrhea were significantly associated with hypoglycemia. Clinical variables do not have adequate sensitivity and specificity to accurately predict which children with AGE have hypoglycemia. Glucose determination should be considered for these patients.