A simple clinical approach to quantifying losses from the extracellular and plasma compartments

It is possible to estimate the category and volume of lost liquid in patients who have become acutely depleted of body fluids by measuring the haematocrit and plasma protein concentration in venous blood samples. Three recent examples of different categories of loss are presented: plasma loss in pancreatitis, extracellular fluid (saline) loss in paralytic ileus, and mixed plasma and extracellular fluid loss in peritonitis complicating acute appendicitis. Goood clinical results were achieved by infusion of appropriate volumes of either plasma or saline so as to restore the haematocrit and plasma protein concentration to their presumptive basal values.