Pediatric Emergency Playbook

Have you ever been in any of these situations? ⇒   You have a stable child who just needs fluids, but no laboratory tests ⇒   You’ve tried PO hydration, to no avail, despite anti-emetics ⇒   You’re poking the stable, but dehydrated child repeatedly without success What now? Hypodermoclysis, otherwise known as subcutaneous rehydration. [Insert Player] Clysis comes from the same Greek word that “a flood” – hypodermoclysis refers to flooding the subcutaneous space with fluid, so that it can be absorbed systemically. Sound far-fetched? Well, it turns out, what is old is new again. In 1913, Dr Day first described this technique for a child with severe diarrhea who could not tolerate fluids by mouth. Hypodermoclysis then began to gain popularity with a peak of use in the 1940s, until an innovative breakthrough in 1950. Dr David Massa, a resident anesthesiologist at the Mayo clinic, invented the first catheter-over-needle apparatus. With increasing safety and ready access of IV catheters, IV quickly overshadowed SC