Hyperkalemia Was an Independent Risk Factor for Death While Under Mechanical Ventilation Among Children Hospitalized With Diarrhea in Bangladesh

Objectives. We sought to evaluate the admission and hospital risk factors for death in children with diarrhea requiring mechanical ventilation (MV). Methods. This was a retrospective study. We enrolled children aged 0 to 59 months admitted with diarrhea to the intensive care unit of the Dhaka Hospital of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) between August 2009 and July 2013 and required MV. To evaluate the risk factors for death in MV, we compared the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the children requiring MV. We matched up to the clinical characteristics presented on admission and subsequently developed before MV during hospital stay with the survivors and deaths of children having MV. Results. Among 73 enrolled children, 58 (80%) died. Incidence of death in MV was higher among children having hyperkalemia (P ≤ .001), hypoglycemia (P ≤ .001), and metabolic acidosis (P = .06) on admission and lower in children having tracheal isolates (P ≤ .001) during hospitalization. After adjusting for covariates by using multivariate robust Poisson regression, children with hyperkalemia (incidence ratio = 1.34; P = .03; confidence interval = 1.02-1.76) on admission was the only independent risk factor for death of children with MV. Conclusion. Children with hyperkalemia on admission and subsequently requiring MV were more likely to die compared with those without hyperkalemia.