Fluids: what’s new?

Abstract

An adequate intravascular volume replacement is an essential part of managing a critically ill surgical or intensive care patient. Failure to treat or prevent hypovolaemia may progress to organ dysfunction, or even death. Although the importance of adequate volume replacement is widely accepted, there are still no universally accepted recommendations. Different crystalloid solutions, the naturally occurring human albumin (HA), and different non-protein or synthetic colloids, have been promoted to treat volume deficits. Over the years, some misconceptions about volume replacement have been established and these need to be reconsidered and corrected.