Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the daily losses of water, sodium and potassium in the urine of Ghanaian children who presented to the paediatric surgery unit of the Korle-Bu teaching hospital.
Methods: The urine of 74 Ghanaian children (51 male, 23 female) who presented to the Paediatric surgery unit of the Korle-Bu teaching hospital between June 1997 and January 1999 was collected over a 24 hour period and analysed to determine the volume, sodium and potassium content.
Result: 74 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years with a mean age of 9 years were involved in the study. The mean daily urinary volume was 1136.8ml (95% confidence interval 1097.7 to 1176.0) with a range of 400 to 2400ml. The sodium excreted was 108.6mmol per day (confidence interval 105.3 to 111.9) with a range of 39.8 to 231.9mmol per day while the potassium excreted was 24.7mmol (confidence interval 23.7 to 25.7mmol) and a range of 6.25 to 69.9mmol per day.
Conclusion: This study showed that children between 5 and 12 years in a ward lose a mean of 1136.8ml of water per day, 4.6mmol per kilogram of sodium per day, and 1mmol per kg per day of potassium in their urine.