The safety of restrictive fluid therapy for major abdominal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Restrictive fluid therapy is essential to enhanced recovery after surgery. A meta-analysis was conducted to explore the safety of restrictive fluid therapy for major abdominal surgery and compare it with liberal fluid therapy. Methodology : We searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and EMBASE in which restrictive and liberal fluid therapies were compared. Data on complications, anastomotic leaks, and wound infections were extracted. Results: Eleven RCTs comparing the two therapies were included. Compared with liberal fluid therapy, restrictive fluid therapy lowered the risk of complications and cardiopulmonary dysfunction and had similar rates of mortality, anastomotic leak, pneumonia and would infection. But increased kidney injury was also observed in restrictive fluid therapy. Conclusion: Restrictive fluid therapy is safe but may have potential dangers, so caution is warranted in its application.