Method

Fourteen adult males with severe" rice water" diarrhea and bacteriologically proven cholera (Vibrio choleme, biotype El Tor, Ogawa) who passed 367 to 792 ml of stool per hr during the first 7 to 18 hr after hospital admission were studied. Patients were selected from among the most severe cases of cholera admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital during 1967 and included only those with very high rates of stool production. No patient received antibiotics before or during the study. The study compared stool volume and composition during a period of intragastric infusion of a glucose-electrolyte solution with similar observations in control periods. Each patient was studied during four consecutive periods:(1) a control period of 7 to 18 hr (mean 12.0 hr), beginning at admission, during which rapid rehydration and replacement of subsequent stool losses was accomplished intravenously, the patient receiving nothing by mouth;(2) a study period during which the glucose-electrolyte solution was infused via a nasogastric tube by a Sigmamotor pump, and during which intravenous fluids were given only if water balance was not maintained; and (3) and (4) consecutive control periods identical to the first control period. Twelve-hour periods were chosen because prior observations had shown that during shorter periods the mean rate at which stool was passed varied unpredictably. Because the mean hourly rate of stool production for consecutive 12-hr pe-