Fluid resuscitation

Abstract

Intravenous resuscitation fluids are administered to critically ill patients primarily to correct symptomatic hypovolaemia. Crystalloids are pragmatic first-line resuscitation fluids for the majority of patients with little evidence that colloids confer any clinical benefit over crystalloids. Fluids should be selected according to the cause and severity of hypovolaemia that vary over the course of acute illness, to prevent toxicity, specifically physiological or organ dysfunction associated with the type of fluid, particularly semi-synthetic colloids and chloride-rich crystalloids, and to minimise excess cumulative fluid balance that is independently associated with adverse outcomes.