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Gastroenteritis - Management
When should I admit an adult with gastroenteritis?
- Arrange emergency admission to hospital if:
- Other factors influencing admission (clinical judgement should be used) include:
- Recent foreign travel.
- Older age (people 60 years of age or older are more at risk of complications).
- Home circumstances and level of support.
- Fever.
- Bloody diarrhoea.
- Abdominal pain and tenderness.
- Faecal incontinence.
- Diarrhoea lasting more than 10 days.
- Increased risk of poor outcome, for example:
- Coexisting medical conditions — immunodeficiency, lack of stomach acid, inflammatory bowel disease, valvular heart disease, diabetes mellitus, renal impairment, rheumatoid disease, systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Drugs — immunosuppressants or systemic steroids, proton pump inhibitors, H2-receptor antagonists, simple antacids, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics.
Basis for recommendation
This recommendation is based on an expert-consensus guideline from the British Society for the Study of Infection [Farthing et al, 1996].
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