Abstract

ARCANA LOPEZ, Ronald; FRISANCHO VELARDE, Oscar  and  CHACALTANA, Alfonso. Etiology of chronic diarrhea in the elderly in Hospital Edgardo Rebagliati, Lima-Peru. Rev. gastroenterol. Perú [online]. 2012, vol.32, n.4, pp.366-370. ISSN 1022-5129.

INTRODUCTION: The impact of chronic diarrhea in the elderly is disproportionate by several factors causing increased morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To describe the main features about the chronic diarrhea in elderly patients from Edgardo Rebagliati Hospital (Lima-Peru) during the period January 2005 to December 2011, METHOD: A descriptive and retrospective study in which we reviewed the medical records of elderly patients with the diagnosis of chronic diarrhea, pouring in a data collection sheet. RESULTS: We reviewed the medical records of 202 patients. The mean age was 73.5 ± 6.7 years, with most women (57.43%). Major comorbidities were cardiovascular (60.4%) and endocrine (27.2%). The half time of illness was 21.6 ± 13.6 weeks. The most requested tests were CBC, biochemistry, albumin, coprofuncional, parasitological and colonoscopy. The most common type of diarrhea was the organic (84.16%). Among the main causes were found microscopic colitis (35.15%), parasites (15.84%), irritable bowel syndrome (14.85%) and bacterial overgrowth (8.42%). CONCLUSIONS: The most common causes of chronic diarrhea in the elderly are microscopic colitis, parasites, irritable bowel syndrome and bacterial overgrowth.

Keywords : chronic diarrhea; diagnosis; etiology; elderly.

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