abnormally low potassium concentration in the blood; may result from excessive potassium loss by the renal or gastrointestinal route, from decreased intake, or from transcellular shifts; manifested clinically by neuromuscular disorders ranging from weakness to paralysis, by electrocardiographic abnormalities, and by renal and gastrointestinal disorders.
Hypokalemia; lower than normal levels of potassium in the circulating blood.
condition due to decreased dietary intake of potassium, as in starvation or failure to administer in intravenous solutions, or to gastrointestinal loss; severe potassium deficiency may produce muscular weakness and lead to paralysis and respiratory failure; muscular malfunction may result in hypoventilation, paralytic ileus, hypotension, muscle twitches, tetany, and rhabomyolysis; nephropathy from potassium deficit impairs the concentrating mechanism.
Also applicable to/known as
Hypokalemia
Potassium [K] deficiency
ICD-9-CM Volume 2 Index Entries That Refer To 276.8
2008 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 276.8
276.8