Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low-or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI).Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression.

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Oral rehydration solutions containing 50 to 90 mmol/L of sodium have recently been recommended for the treatment of diarrhea in both hospitalized and ambulatory children in the United States. Few data are available, however, from ambulatory US children. Therefore, we conducted a randomized double-blind study comparing the use of four different oral rehydration solutions with differing concentrations of sodium, glucose, and base. Ambulatory children less than 2 years of age with acute diarrhea (N = 140) were randomly chosen to receive solutions containing sodium at 90 (solution A), 50 (solution B), and 30 mmol/L (solutions C and D). All oral rehydration solutions contained 20 g/L of glucose except solution D which contained 50 g/L of glucose. Solution A contained bicarbonate as its base source whereas the other three contained citrate. All but three (98%) children were treated uneventfully according to the study protocol, and there were no differences among groups in measurements of clinical outcome. It was concluded that in ambulatory US children, oral rehydration solutions containing 90, 50, or 30 mmol/L of sodium can be used safely for the treatment of mild acute diarrhea and that citrate is as efficacious as bicarbonate in the correction of acidosis.