Illustrated Health Encyclopedia
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Ency. home > Disease > D > Dehydration

Dehydration   

Overview | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention

Symptoms

  • excessive loss of fluid through vomiting, urinating, stools or sweating
  • poor intake of fluids, "can't keep anything down"
  • sunken eyes
  • markedly sunken fontanelles in an infant
  • dry or sticky mucous membranes in the mouth
  • the skin may lack its normal elasticity and sag back into position slowly when pinched up into a fold (poor skin turgor)
  • decreased or absent urine output (oliguria or anuria)
  • decreased tears
  • deep and rapid breathing
  • with severe dehydration -- lethargic or comatose

Signs and Tests

A physical examination may also show signs of:

Tests include:
  • blood chemistries (to check electrolytes, especially sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate levels)
  • urine specific gravity (a high specific gravity indicates significant dehydration)
  • BUN (blood urea nitrogen -- may be elevated with dehydration)
  • creatinine (creatinine -- may be elevated with dehydration)
  • Complete Blood Count (CBC) to look for signs of concentrated blood (hemoconcentration)
Other tests may be done to determine the specific cause of the dehydration (for example, a blood sugar to check for diabetes).

Ency. home > Disease > D > Dehydration

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