Comparison of Sucrose and Glucose in the Oral Electrolyte Therapy of Cholera and Other Severe Diarrheas

Abstract

The effectiveness of sucrose and glucose electrolyte solutions as fluid replacement in cholera and severe diarrheas from other causes was compared. Subjects in this study which took place in Bangladesh were of both sexes and were aged 5 years or older. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 oral solutions; both had concentrations of 96 mEq of sodium, 25 mEq of Potassium, 72 mEq of chloride, 24 mEq of bicarbonate, and 25 mEq of citrate, and 1 solution had 40 gm of sucrose and the other 20 gm of glucose. The solutions were coded and the test was double-blind. Of 122 patients, 69 were given sucrose and 53 the glucose solution. The total success rate was 86% from sucrose-electrolyte solution and 87% for glucose. In addition, total volumes needed for successful therapy were essentially the same. In 10 of 17 failures (7 sucrose and 3 glucose) the same therapy was used again after intravenous therapy, and only 2 cases remained failures. Thes results suggest that sucrose can effectively replace glucose in an oral electrolyte solution for severe diarrhea in patients over 5 years of age.