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research-article |
Comparison of Efficacy of Oral Rehydration Fluids Administered at 37°C or 23°C
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*Carlos Saenz Herrera National Children Hospital San José, Costa Rica
School of Medicine, University of Costa Rica and Social Security
Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Pakistan Medical Research Centre, University of Maryland School of Medicine Lahore, Pakistan
Correspondence: Dr. M. M. Levine, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 29 S. Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
In order to assess the advantage, if any, of oral rehydration fluids warmed to 37°C (core body temperature), infants with diarrhoeal dehydration were randomly allocated to receive oral rehydration solutions at ambient temperature (23°C) or warmed to 37°C. One hundred children received glucose/electrolytes solution (GES) and water at the former temperature and another 100 received warmed fluids. Children were rehydrated by either the rotating 2:1 (every 400ml of GES followed by 200 ml of plain water) or bolus 2:1 oral rehydration methods. There were no differences between the groups with respect to weight gain, rapidity of rehydration, frequency of vomiting, or overall efficacy. Nor were there differences between infants rehydrated using the rotating 2:1 (GES:water) or bolus 2:1 oral rehydration methods. Oral rehydration fluids can be administered at ambient temperatures and need not be warmed to 37°C.