Complications and outcome of disease in patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a diarrhoeal diseases hospital in Bangladesh.

A retrospective analysis of the medical records of 1970 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of the Clinical Research Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh was made, to identify various complications and outcome. All patients were admitted with a history of diarrhoea. Children under 5 years old comprised 90% of these patients. 75% of these seriously ill patients recovered; 21% died; the remaining 4% were referred to other facilities for specialized treatment or left the hospital against advice. The principal causes of death were recorded as septicaemia (79%) and pneumonia (28%); multiple conditions contributing to the death were present in 90% of patients. None of the 405 deaths could be attributed to dehydration. Severe malnutrition was noted as an associated underlying disorder contributing to the death of 74% of the children. Recognition of these complications or illnesses in seriously ill diarrhoeal patients, and their timely and energetic management, are vital in achieving a low hospital mortality.