Abstract

Background. Hyperkalemia is one of the most serious electrolyte disturbances, and it can cause lethal cardiac arrhythmia. Although hyperkalemia associated with ileostomies has been reported in adults, to the best of our knowledge, it has not previously been reported in neonates.

Case. We report ileostomy‒induced hyperkalemia that persisted during the ileostomy and resolved promptly after the closure of the ileostomy in two extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants, with birth weights of 850 g and 840 g and gestational ages of 27 weeks and 27 weeks 6 days.

Conclusions. These cases highlight that disruption of intestinal integrity in ELBW infants may cause hyperkalemia. Ensuring the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract plays an important role in the treatment of electrolyte disorders such as hyperkalemia in ELBW infants with an ileostomy.

Keywords: extremely low birth weight, premature, ileostomy, hyperkalemia

Copyright and license

Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Mutlu M, Aslan Y, Kader Ş, Cimbek EA, Şalcı G. Extremely rare cause of hyperkalemia: ileostomy‒induced hyperkalemia in extremely low birth weight infants. Turk J Pediatr 2024; 66: 364-368. https://doi.org/10.24953/turkjpediatr.2024.4541

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