Effect of Laxatives as regulators of colonic potassium secretion in Hemodialysis Patients

Abstract

output and urinary K+ in those patients in relation to healthy individuals.( Mathialahan, et al.,2005). Nearly 50 years ago, two studies indicated increased faecal K+ losses in patients with renal impairment, raising the possibility that the intestinal tract might could be an accessory K+ excretory route in those patients to get rid of hyperkalemia.( Hayes et al.,1967)&( Wilson,1968). In our study we select 60 patients with ESRD maintained on hemodialysis divided into 3 groups , two studied groups ( received laxative therapy ) and one control group (did not receive laxative). There was no significant difference between groups concerning gender, age , weight , BMI and hematological parameters (P > 0.05). We found that there was significant difference in both study groups between baseline serum potassium and serum potassium after 2 weeks of laxative intake. In group 1, there is significant decrease in serum K+ concentrations (from 5.4±0.78 to 4.9±0.64 mmol/L, P=0.04) after bisacodyl intake.