Overview

Oral rehydration salts replace any salts and fluid that your body loses. This prevents you from becoming dehydrated (when your body loses more fluids than you take in).

If you drink too much ordinary fluid (such as water, tea, coffee, squash or fizzy drinks), this will increase the output of your:

• stoma (an opening made on your tummy during surgery that allows poo or urine to pass into a collection bag)
• fistula (a tunnel that connects an organ to another part of your body)

If you lose too much fluid through your stoma or fistula, this can cause low salt (sodium) levels and dehydration.

Oral rehydration salts have more sodium than ordinary fluids. This helps your bowel to take in (absorb) sodium and water.

We use 2 brands of oral rehydration salts called:

• Dioralyte™
• Clinova ORS®

You add the product that we give you to water. This makes a solution that you drink during the day to help you stay hydrated.

How to take oral rehydration salts

You need to try to drink 1 litre of oral rehydration salts within 24 hours.

We use 2 types of oral rehydration salts and may give you either product, depending on what stock we have available:

1. Dioralyte (oral rehydration salts powder): Mix 8 sachets of Dioralyte in 1 litre of tap water. Do not use Dioralyte Relief^™. Drink this solution over 24 hours.
2. Clinova ORS tablets (oral rehydration salts tablets): Dissolve 16 tablets in 1 litre of tap water. Drink this solution over 24 hours.

You need to prepare a fresh solution each day. This should make up most of the fluid that you drink. You might be able to have more ordinary fluids of your choice, but need to speak to your hospital team about this first.

Tips for taking oral rehydration salts

Here is some guidance to help you when taking oral rehydration salts:

If you forget to take oral rehydration salts

If you forget to take your oral rehydration salts, you will need to:

• prepare the solution when you remember
• drink the solution during the day

If you have any solution left at the end of the day, you can throw it away down the sink. You need to make a new batch of solution the next day.

Side effects of oral rehydration salts

You are not likely to get any side effects from taking oral rehydration salts. They should prevent you from becoming dehydrated and having increased stoma output.

Oral rehydration salts contain a mineral called potassium and can affect the level of potassium in your blood. Your body needs a certain amount of potassium. However, it can be harmful if the amount of potassium in your blood is too high or too low.

We monitor your potassium level closely in hospital. Your GP then needs to check your potassium level regularly when you leave hospital.

Repeat prescription

We give you enough oral rehydration salts to last for 2 weeks when you leave hospital.

You then need to take your discharge letter (which we give you when you leave hospital) and this information to your GP.