How Has Fluid Therapy Changed Over the Years?
Liz Rozanski, DVM, talks about how volume and titration has changed with regard to fluid therapy.
Where is fluid therapy today, and how has it changed over the years? Liz Rozanski, DVM, associate professor of emergency and critical care at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, talks about how volume and titration has changed with regard to fluid therapy.
Veterinarians used to be taught to give as many fluids as possible, no matter what, Dr. Rozanski says. But practitioners started to recognize that too much fluids is more detrimental than they thought. She also mentions the conflict over colloids—synthetic fluids that help keep fluid in the blood stream. Veterinarians thought colloids would help dogs and cats, but practitioners starting recognizing that their use is associated with clotting problems, kidney injury, and volume overload.
Dr. Rozanski also mentions that for dogs and cats with kidney disease, veterinarians used to think lots of fluids would flush out their body system, but realized that this practice doesn't help improve kidney function.
