Point-of-Care Ultrasonography for the Assessment of Dehydration in Children: A Systematic Review

Accurate estimation of the degree of dehydration remains a diagnostic challenge. The primary objective was to systematically review the literature on the role of ultrasound in assessment of the degree of dehydration in children.

Data sources included Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, Current Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov , and Trip Pro Database. Two independent reviewers used screening protocol to include articles on assessment of dehydration in children with the use of point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS). The level of evidence was assessed in accordance with the "The Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence." The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool was used to evaluate risk of bias.

We identified 108 studies, and 8 studies met our inclusion criteria. All studies were prospective cohort studies (level of evidence, 3-4). The authors of 5 studies used difference between ill weight and weight after rehydration as the reference standard for dehydration, and the authors of 3 studies used clinical dehydration scale. Two studies from the United States showed acceptable areas under the curve for inferior vena cava to aorta (IVC/Ao) diameter ratio at 0.72 and 0.73 for prediction of significant dehydration (>5% weight loss). The IVC/Ao ratio with cut-off at 0.8 had sensitivity of 67% and 86% and specificity of 71% and 56% for prediction of significant dehydration. Studies from the resource-limited settings were more heterogeneous. One study with acceptable risk of biases reported poor sensitivity (67%) and specificity (49%) of Ao/IVC ratio with cut-off of 2.0 for predicting severe dehydration (>9% weight loss) with area under the curve at 0.6. Three studies showed increase in IVC diameter with fluid resuscitation with mean change in IVC diameter by 30% in children with significant dehydration (>5% weight loss) and by 22% without significant dehydration (<5% weight loss). Metaanalysis was not completed due to high heterogeneity.

This study showed that the quantity and quality of research on the application of POCUS for the assessment of dehydration in children is limited. There is no criterion standard for assessing the degree of dehydration and no universal definition of the degree of dehydration. Thus, more methodologically rigorous studies are required. Current systematic review does not support the routine use of US to determine the severity of dehydration in children. Despite these limitations, the use of POCUS in children with dehydration demonstrates potential. Given the clear increase in IVC size with rehydration, repeated IVC US scans may be helpful in guiding fluid resuscitation in children with dehydration. From different proposed US parameters, IVC/Ao ratio has better diagnostic accuracy in detecting significant dehydration than Ao/IVC ratio and IVC collapsibility index. Despite low to moderate diagnostic performance, US still showed better assessment of dehydration than physician gestalt and World Health Organization score.