Assessment of fluid balance in neonates using bioimpedance analyser

The amount of liquid intake in neonatal care should be preceded by the knowledge of the neonate hydro-balance. A reduced liquid intake can cause dehydration, electrolytic unbalance and hypotension. On the other hand, an excessive intake can cause peripheral edema, congestive heart failure, among others problems. Thus, the assessment of the liquid compartment in neonates, by a non-invasive, non-expensive and fast method can contribute to increasing the quality of neonatal care. Bioimpedance has been used to assess fluid volumes in adults, but a very few works has,been published in neonatal studies, specially using techniques able to observe the intra and extra-cellular compartments separately. The present work aims to study the fluid balance in neonates using a recent bioimpedance spectroscopy method and correlate the results with clinical findings.