P21: PREVENTING DEHYDRATION IN LOOP ILEOSTOMY: RESULTS FROM A PPI GROUP TO ASSESS ACCEPTABILITY OF DAILY DOUBLE STRENGTH REHYDRATION SALTS (DIORALYTE™) AND PATIENT OPINIONS ON IMPORTANCE OF THIS AS AN AREA OF RESEARCH

Dehydration is a common problem amongst colorectal cancer patients who are defunctioned with loop ileostomy. This is known to lead to significant morbidity including acute kidney injury, hospital readmission and non-commencement or non-completion of chemotherapy. This institution plans to run a trial looking into preventing this with oral rehydration salts and formed a patient and public involvement (PPI) group to inform trial design and assess patient opinion on importance of this area of research. Method Five patients were recruited to the PPI group and a recorded semi-structured group interview was conducted. Patients were invited to try the rehydration salts and asked questions related to trial design and importance of research. The recording was transcribed and thematically analysed by the primary researcher. A consultant surgeon was present to ensure any medical issues raised were dealt with correctly. Result Three participants had experienced problems with their stoma. The main themes identified were; social embarrassment, behaviour modification, high outputs of stomas, fear of non-closure. The participants were unaware of dehydration related complications but felt that they were of high importance when provided with relevant information. Participants tasted the oral rehydration salts and expressed preference for mixing them with fruit flavoured squash. No specific barriers were identified in participation and patients were highly motivated to engage with the proposed study. Conclusion Patients are motivated and believe this to be a worthwhile area of research. Daily double strength rehydration salts are an acceptable intervention with few barriers to participation. Take-home message Dehydration in patients defunctioned with loop ileostomy is a significant cause of morbidity. Patients are highly motivated to engage in research into preventing this and find daily double strength rehydration salts is an acceptable intervention.