Maintenance fluid therapy: What it is and what it is not

Abstract

Fifty years after the publication of a prescription for maintenance fluid therapy, concerns have been raised about the use of hypotonic fluids in hospitalized children. We discuss what maintenance fluid therapy is or what it is not; where maintenance fluid therapy has been misused. We also discuss concerns with the immediate adoption of isotonic fluid as maintenance fluid without careful consideration and testing. © IPNA 2007.