This site is intended for healthcare professionals

CPD
CPD
Pro
Pro
account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Go to /pro/cpd-dashboard page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. CPD dashboard

Go to /account/subscription-details page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. Upgrade to Pro

Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

In majority of cases dehydration is caused by a disease and/or the effects of medication and NOT primarily due to lack of access to water (1).

Causes include:

  • fluid loss without water replacement - for example, an unconscious patient with fluid lost from diarrhoea, burns, vomiting, sweat, respiration
  • diabetes insipidus
  • osmotic diuresis - for example, diabetic coma
  • Conn's syndrome - hypokalaemic alkalosis
  • Cushing's syndrome
  • incorrect intravenous fluid replacement
  • some patients with hyperosmolar non-ketoacidotic diabetic coma; this condition may also cause hyponatraemia
  • hypothalamic dysfunction

Reference:

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.