Oral solution may be OK for dehydrated children

The question: Very young children can become dehydrated after a bout of diarrhea or a stomach virus. To restore water and electrolytes, might an over-the-counter solution taken orally work as well as fluids given intravenously?

This study involved 73 children, 3 years old or younger, who came to an emergency room dehydrated after a stomach or intestinal virus. The children were randomly assigned to drink small amounts of Pedialyte, an electrolyte solution, over four hours or to be rehydrated with fluids through an IV. About 56 percent of the children in both groups were successfully rehydrated in four hours. Afterward, about one-third of the Pedialyte group needed to be hospitalized for observation, compared with nearly half of those given an IV.

Who may be affected by these findings? Young children.

Caveats: About 15 percent of the children in the oral group were not able to take Pedialyte because of vomiting; in nearly half of the other group, it took two or more attempts to successfully place the IV. The study was conducted mostly during the day; the researchers suggested that parents may not have equal success administering an oral solution at home in the middle of the night.

Bottom line: Parents of young children may want to talk with a pediatrician about Pedialyte.

Find this study in the February issue of Pediatrics; abstract available online at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org.

Learn more about dehydration at www.kidshealth.org and www.medem.com.