Fluid requirements of severely burned children up to 3 years old: hypertonic lactated saline vs. Ringer's lactate-colloid.

Children with burns greater than or equal to 30 per cent of the body surface area were entered into a prospective fluid resuscitation protocol using hypertonic lactated saline (HLS) or Ringer's lactate-colloid. The two resuscitation groups were subdivided into patients less than or equal to 3 years old and children greater than 3 years old. The children under 3 years old required significantly more fluid and sodium during the first 48 h when calculations were made using body weight as the indexing factor.