ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present a pragmatic, evidencebased approach to the child with acute diarrhea, which is a result of an extensive review of several diagnostic and treatment options that have been studied in children. We searched MEDLINE for relevant, good-quality observational studies on etiology, epidemiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, complications and diagnostic work-up. To evaluate treatments for acute diarrhea, we focused on data from meta-analyses, systematic reviews and randomized controlled clinical trials in MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Finally, we searched MEDLINE for published evidence-based clinical practice guidelines developed by respected scientific societies or expert groups. We included conclusions from these documents in our chapter, because they contain recommendations based usually on a process of balancing benefit and harm of available approaches and interventions, and are commonly used to improve the quality of health care in many countries. In all cases the last search date was May 2003.
