Rice-based oral rehydration solution decreases the stool volume in acute diarrhoea

A randomized trial using oral rehydration solutions (ORS) with rice or glucose was carried out in 342 patients with acute watery diarrhoea. On admission, 75% of these patients had severe dehydration and 70% were positive for Vibrio cholerae. There were 185 children aged under 10 years and 157 adults; 169 patients were treated with rice-ORS and 173 with glucose-ORS. Patients in both groups were comparable in age and body weight, as well as the duration and severity of illness. Patients with severe dehydration were first rehydrated intravenously, and then treated with ORS. Those with moderate dehydration received ORS from the beginning. The mean stool output in the first 24 hours in children treated with rice-ORS was less than that in those treated with glucose-ORS (155 vs 204 ml/kg/24 h; P<0.01). The same was true for the adult patients, the corresponding values for stool output being 115 vs 159 ml/kg/24h (P<0.05). The mean ORS intake in children was 263.5 vs 379.6 ml/kg/24 h, respectively, for rise-ORS and glucose-ORS (P<0.05); the corresponding intakes in adult patients were, respectively, 180.5 and 247 ml/kg/24 h. A gain of about 10% of the body weight on admission was observed in all the groups. Six cases (4 children and 2 adults), who failed to respond to oral rehydration after intravenous therapy, all belonged to the glucose-ORS group.