New injection to combat dehydration found safe, less painful
By Glenna Picton
Children treated in the emergency room for dehydration responded well to an experimental, under-the-skin injection to treat the condition, according to a recent study by a Baylor College of Medicine pediatrician.
The injection was shown to be safe, effective and less painful than the standard intravenous therapy. The study appeared in a recent issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Small veins in kids
"When oral rehydration does not work, one of our only options is to administer fluids intravenously," said Dr. Coburn Allen, assistant professor of pediatrics in both the sections of emergency medicine and infectious diseases, at Baylor College of Medicine and the study's lead author. "With young children, this is not easy because their veins are smaller and harder to find. This can be very painful."
Dehydration occurs after the child has had prolonged bouts of vomiting or diarrhea. When this happens, more fluids are lost than consumed.
"It can become very serious and require hospitalization," said Allen.
The experimental injection is aided by the enzyme hyaluronidase, a genetically altered spreading agent that helps increase the body's ability to transmit lost fluids back into its system.
Easy to perform
In the study that took place in the Texas Children's Hospital emergency room, doctors placed a catheter under the skin and injected a small amount of hyaluronidase, followed by an infusion of fluids for the next hour. This form of rehydration therapy was continued, as needed, for up to 72 hours.
Researchers found that 94.1 percent of 51 children were successfully hydrated and did not need an alternative form of rehydration. They said that 96 percent of the doctors who took part found the procedure easy to perform and 90 percent parents were satisfied or very satisfied.
Funding for this research came from Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Other institutions involved in the study include St. John's Mercy Children's Hospital, St. Louis, Mo.; Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Mo.; Memorial Children's Hospital, South Bend, Ind.; Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, Ariz.; Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.; Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Fla.; Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, N.Y.; and Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Deerfield, Ill.
