Gastroenterology
Case 24: A Patient with Community‐Acquired Pneumonia and Diarrhoea
CASE
You are asked to see an 87‐year‐old woman on the medical ward. She had been admitted to hospital 10 days previously with a community‐acquired pneumonia and has been receiving broad‐spectrum oral antibiotics. In the last 24 hours she has developed anorexia and diarrhoea. She had reported no gut symptoms on admission to the hospital. On examination she looks dry with reduced skin turgor and has a mild tachycardia (pulse 100 beats/min). Her temperature is recorded at 37.4°C. Abdominal examination reveals some mild lower abdominal tenderness.
Blood tests showed:
Hb 12.2 g/dL WCC 16.4 × 109/L Platelets 180 × 109/L Na 149 mmol/L K 3.0 mmol/L Urea 10.4 mmol/L Creatinine 220 µmol/L
QUESTION 1
Your score this session: 0 of 0
The most likely cause of her diarrhoea is: