A systematic review 1 including 13 RCTs with a total of 803 subjects was abstracted in DARE. The trials compared oral redydration solution with intravenous rehydration, or safety and efficacy of oral rehydration solutions with differing sodium content. The outcome measure was success in rehydrating children with gastroenteritis within 12 to 24 hours, and failure defined by the need of intravenous rehydration.
The overall failure rate was 3.6% (95% CI 1.4% to 5.8%). There was no significant difference in outcome with rehydration solutions that had different sodium concentrations; although the combined failure rate for the high-sodium formula was the lowest (1.9% (95% CI 0% to 5.4%) the confidence interval overlapped with those of medium- and low-sodium formula. The few studies that showed significant differences between oral and intravenous rehydration favoured the former: patients who received oral rehydration had diarrhoea of shorter duration and gained greater weight.
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