Mortality and Other Outcomes in Relation to First Hour Fluid Resuscitation Rate: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To determine the effect of different regimen of first hour fluid administration rates on mortality and severe consequences of impaired circulation in 2 to 60 months old children with impaired circulation.

Design: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Data Sources: Various databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE were searched.

Results: We found only two relevant trials; one was excluded as there was no comparator arm. Only one study (The FEAST Trial) compared boluses with maintenance fluid alone in children with severe febrile illness and one or more signs of impaired perfusion. The 48 hour mortality was more in the bolus group (RR 1.45, 95% CI 1.13,1.86). The quality of evidence is rated as moderate. For the children who met the WHO criteria for shock (severely impaired circulation) (n=65 children), those receiving boluses had higher mortality (RR 2.40, 95% CI 0.84, 6.88); the quality of evidence was rated as very low.

Conclusion: A single large randomized controlled trial conducted in low-resource settings indicates that administration of fluid bolus is associated with higher mortality in comparison to the maintenance fluids alone in children with severe febrile illness and one or more signs of impaired perfusion. The findings are not generalizable to contexts with different severity of and different causes of shock and in centers with better facilities. There is urgent need for research in different settings to determine the optimal rate of fluid resuscitation in the first hour in children presenting with impaired circulation, particularly with severely impaired circulation.