Abstract

Supplying the correct amount of vital nutrition at the correct time is the most fundamental
and important requirement for the hospitalized patients. Among those treatments, saline therapy
is the most important treatment many patients receive from the hospitals. .This project deals with
the various fluids available for intravenous (IV) administration. The IV fluids can be broadly
divided into two categories: crystalloids and colloids. Crystalloid solutions contain water,
electrolytes, and/or glucose, whereas colloids include mostly albumin and blood products. IV
solutions can be isotonic, hypotonic, or hypertonic. In general, isotonic solutions are used to treat
extracellular fluid (ECF) volume depletion, hypotonic solutions to replace ECF and intracellular
fluid (ICF) water loss, and hypertonic solutions to correct symptomatic hyponatremia. It is
important to know the composition of commonly used crystalloids and colloids before we
understand their indications. Intravenous (IV) fluids may be associated with complications not
often attributed to fluid type. Understanding the association between fluid type and outcomes in
general hospitalized patients may inform selection of fluid type in clinical practice. This project
deals with the IV fluids composition and indication.