Predicting the circulation’s response to fluid resuscitation

Fluid resucitation plays a crucial role in pediatric resuscitation. Predicting fluid responsiveness is important as excessive fluid may decrease cardiac efficiency, and even induce overload. Various pathophysiology of shock suggest that fluid only benefit in optimizing preload. Various methods to assess fluid responsiveness includes measurement of static preload indices, dynamic indices to estimate volume status, and the use of protocols such as fluid challenge and passive leg raising technique. This paper highlights the mechanisms behind each measurements and summarized their use as predictor of fluid responsiveness in pediatric patients.