Rotavirus-Induced Electrolyte Losses in a Patient With Ileostomy

Rotavirus infections are a major cause of acute diarrhea in infants and children worldwide and are responsible for considerable morbidity and even fatality.¹ Recent diagnostic use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of rotavirus antigen from stools of patients with acute diarrhea has helped to elucidate the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of rotavirus infection.² We recently treated a patient with inflammatory bowel disease and ileostomy in whom severe electrolyte imbalance and increased ileostomy fluid losses developed after an upper respiratory tract infection; the patient had rotavirus antigen in her ileostomy drainage. We report the case to demonstrate a possible cause of increased ileostomy output and electrolyte imbalance, ie, rotavirus infection.

Report of a Case.—A 16-year-old girl with Crohn's disease of two years' duration had an ileostomy, resection of the terminal ileum and cecum, and drainage of a right-lower-quadrant abscess three months before admission. She recovered