Oral fluid replacement in severe dehydration

Abstract

In order to compare the therapeutic effect of oral versus intravenous fluid replacement, 903 pediatric patients aged 1 to 24 months with diarrhea and moderate to severe dehydration were randomly selected and treated in 12 hospitals over the country. 482 patients were treated orally and 421 intravenously. Oral rehydration fluid consisted of 2 different isotonic solutions: A. "Rehydration solution" contained 40 mmol/l Na and 20 mmol/l K. this solution was administration in a quantity of 40 ml/kg/h until the signs of dehydration totally disappeared. B. "Maintenance solution" contained 40 mmol/l Na and 30 mmol/l K, and was administrated gradually in a quantity of 250 ml/kg/h until the bowel movement was normalized. Clinical signs at the time of admission to hospital, response to treatment, complications, failure in treatment and mortality in both patient groups showed no difference. It is concluded that oral fluid replacement therapy can be as effective as intravenous treatment of sever dehydration