Abstract
Dehydration secondary to acute gastroenteritis is a commonly encountered condition among patients presenting to physicians’ offices and hospital EDs. Treatment options consist of oral rehydration therapy (ORT), intravenous rehydration therapy (IVRT) and subcutaneous rehydration therapy (SCRT). Although most patients with dehydration can be effectively treated in an outpatient setting, hospitalization is frequently warranted, with estimated annual inpatient costs for dehydration therapy exceeding $US1 billion in the US in 1999 for elderly patients alone. Although most treatment guidelines recommend ORT as first-line treatment for mild to moderate dehydration, IVRT remains the predominant route of administration for rehydration fluids in the acute care setting in the US. To evaluate the current state of the literature examining costs associated with dehydration therapy, a systematic review of articles published on MEDLINE from 2000 to 2009 was conducted. A total of 20 reports containing pharmacoeconomic data on re-hydration therapy were evaluated. Findings suggest that ORT and SCRT may be less costly than IVRT in the treatment of mild to moderate dehydration; however, variability in cost parameters examined or data collection methods described in the literature precluded a comprehensive comparative cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment options. Future pharmacoeconomic analyses of rehydration therapy should incorporate time-motion analyses comprising a consistent set of variables to determine the most cost-effective treatment modality for patients with mild to moderate dehydration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Xiao H, Barber J, Campbell ES. Economic burden of dehydration among hospitalized elderly patients. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004 Dec 1; 61(23): 2534–40
Zimmerman CM, Bresee JS, Parashar UD, et al. Cost of diarrhea-associated hospitalizations and outpatient visits in an insured population of young children in the United States. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2001 Jan; 20(1): 14–9
Malek MA, Curns AT, Holman RC, et al. Diarrhea- and rotavirus-associated hospitalizations among children less than 5 years of age: United States, 1997 and 2000. Pediatrics 2006 Jun; 117(6): 1887–92
Fischer TK, Viboud C, Parashar U, et al. Hospitalizations and deaths from diarrhea and rotavirus among children <5 years of age in the United States, 1993–2003. J Infect Dis 2007 Apr 15; 195(8): 1117–25
Pierce NF, Hirschhorn N. Oral fluid: a simple weapon against dehydration in diarrhoea. WHO Chron 1977 Mar; 31(3): 87–93
Santosham M, Keenan EM, Tulloch J, et al. Oral rehydra-tion therapy for diarrhea: an example of reverse transfer of technology. Pediatrics 1997 Nov; 100(5): E10
World Health Organization. The treatment of diarrhoea: a manual for physicians and other senior health workers [report no. 4]. Geneva: WHO, 2005
King CK, Glass R, Bresee JS, et al. Managing acute gastroenteritis among children: oral rehydration, maintenance, and nutritional therapy. MMWR Recomm Rep 2003 Nov 21; 52(RR-16): 1–16
American Academy of Pediatrics Provisional Committee on Quality Improvement, Subcommittee on Acute Gastroenteritis. Practice parameter: the management of acute gastroenteritis in young children. Pediatrics 1996 Mar; 97(3): 424–35
Cohen MB, Mezoff AG, Laney Jr DW, et al. Use of a single solution for oral rehydration and maintenance therapy of infants with diarrhea and mild to moderate dehydration. Pediatrics 1995 May; 95(5): 639–45
Santosham M, Daum RS, Dillman L, et al. Oral rehydration therapy of infantile diarrhea: a controlled study of well-nourished children hospitalized in the United States and Panama. N Engl J Med 1982 May 6; 306(18): 1070–6
Santosham M, Burns B, Nadkarni V, et al. Oral rehydration therapy for acute diarrhea in ambulatory children in the United States: a double-blind comparison of four different solutions. Pediatrics 1985 Aug; 76(2): 159–66
Listernick R, Zieserl E, Davis AT. Outpatient oral rehy-dration in the United States. Am J Dis Child 1986 Mar; 140(3): 211–5
Tamer AM, Friedman LB, Maxwell SR, et al. Oral rehy-dration of infants in a large urban US medical center. J Pediatr 1985 Jul; 107(1): 14–9
Mackenzie A, Barnes G. Randomised controlled trial comparing oral and intravenous rehydration therapy in children with diarrhoea. BMJ 1991 Aug 17; 303(6799): 393–6
Bellemare S, Hartling L, Wiebe N, et al. Oral rehydration versus intravenous therapy for treating dehydration due to gastroenteritis in children: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMC Med 2004 Apr 15; 2: 11
Ozuah PO, Avner JR, Stein RE. Oral rehydration, emergency physicians, and practice parameters: a national survey. Pediatrics 2002 Feb; 109(2): 259–61
Conners GP, Barker WH, Mushlin AI, et al. Oral versus intravenous: rehydration preferences of pediatric emergency medicine fellowship directors. Pediatr Emerg Care 2000 Oct; 16(5): 335–8
Reis EC, Goepp JG, Katz S, et al. Barriers to use of oral rehydration therapy. Pediatrics 1994 May; 93(5): 708–11
Snyder JD. Use and misuse of oral therapy for diarrhea: comparison of US practices with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations. Pediatrics 1991 Jan; 87(1): 28–33
Stanley A, O’Keeffe ST, Faull C, et al. Hypodermoclysis guidelines on the technique. Wrexham: CP Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 1998
Hechter O, Dopkeen SK, Yudell MH. The clinical use of hyaluronidase in hypodermoclysis. J Pediatr 1947; 30(6): 645–56
Burket LC, Gyorgy P. Clinical observations on the use of hyaluronidase. Ann N-Y Acad Sci 1950; 52(7): 1171–9
Jaworski A, Farley Jr JE. Hyaluronidase in administration of fluids. Am J Dis Child 1950; 79(1): 59–64
Schwartzman J. Hyaluronidase: a review of its therapeutic use in pediatrics. J Pediatr 1951; 39(4): 491–502
Boyd HW. Hyaluronidase as an aid to administration of fluid in the treatment of dehydration in infants. Glasgow Med J 1951 Jul; 32(7): 214–7
Goodfellow AM, Pocock R, McCreary JF. Treatment of dehydration in infancy using continuous interstitials and hyaluronidase. Can Med Assoc J 1952 Jan; 66(1): 8–11
Barua P, Bhowmick BK. Hypodermoclysis: a victim of historical prejudice. Age Ageing 2005 May; 34(3): 215–7
Hall BD. Complications of hypodermoclysis (re-emphasis with a case presentation). J Ky Med Assoc 1968 Jul; 66(7): 626–7
Abbott WE, Levey S, Foreman RC, et al. The danger of administering parenteral fluids by hypodermoclysis. Surgery 1952 Aug; 32(2): 305–15
Farrand S, Campbell AJ. Safe, simple subcutaneous fluid administration. Br J Hosp Med 1996 Jun 5; 55(11): 690–2
Berger EY. Nutrition by hypodermoclysis. J Am Geriatr Soc 1984 Mar; 32(3): 199–203
Challiner YC, Jarrett D, Hayward MJ, et al. A comparison of intravenous and subcutaneous hydration in elderly acute stroke patients. Postgrad Med J 1994 Mar; 70(821): 195–7
Fainsinger RL, MacEachern T, Miller MJ, et al. The use of hypodermoclysis for rehydration in terminally ill cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 1994 Jul; 9(5): 298–302
O’Keeffe ST, Lavan JN. Subcutaneous fluids in elderly hospital patients with cognitive impairment. Gerontology 1996; 42(1): 36–9
FrisoliJr A, de Paula AP, Feldman D, et al. Subcutaneous hydration by hypodermoclysis: a practical and low cost treatment for elderly patients. Drugs Aging 2000 Apr; 16(4): 313–9
Pirrello RD, Ting Chen C, Thomas SH. Initial experiences with subcutaneous recombinant human hyaluronidase. J Palliat Med 2007 Aug; 10(4): 861–4
Yap LK, Tan SH, Koo WH. Hypodermoclysis or subcutaneous infusion revisited. Singapore Med J 2001 Nov; 42(11): 526–9
Slesak G, Schnurle JW, Kinzel E, et al. Comparison of subcutaneous and intravenous rehydration in geriatric patients: a randomized trial. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003 Feb; 51(2): 155–60
Allen CH, Etzwiler LS, Miller MK, et al. Recombinant human hyaluronidase-enabled subcutaneous pediatric rehy-dration. Pediatrics 2009 Oct 5; 124(5): e859–68
Hahn B, Mace SE, Maher G, et al. Hydration therapy in infants and children: recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous versus intravenous [poster]. Scientific Assembly of the American College of Emergency Physicians; 2009 Oct 5–8; Boston (MA)
Bookbinder LH, Hofer A, Haller MF, et al. A recombinant human enzyme for enhanced interstitial transport of therapeutics. J Control Release 2006 Aug 28; 114(2): 230–41
Frost GI. Recombinant human hyaluronidase (rHuPH20): an enabling platform for subcutaneous drug and fluid administration. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2007 Jul; 4(4): 427–40
Yocum RC, Kennard D, Heiner LS. Assessment and implication of the allergic sensitivity to a single dose of recombinant human hyaluronidase injection: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Infus Nurs 2007 Sep; 30(5): 293–9
Thomas JR, Yocum RC, Haller MF, et al. Assessing the role of human recombinant hyaluronidase in gravity-driven subcutaneous hydration: the INFUSE-LR study. J Palliat Med 2007; 10(6): 1312–20
Kokotis K. Cost containment and infusion services. J Infus Nurs 2005 May; 28(3 Suppl.): S22–32
van Zanten AR, Engelfriet PM, van Dillen K, et al. Importance of nondrug costs of intravenous antibiotic therapy. Crit Care 2003 Dec; 7(6): R184–90
Hussain NA, Warshaw G. Utility of clysis for hydration in nursing home residents. J Am Geriatr Soc 1996 Aug; 44(8): 969–73
Avery ME, Snyder JD. Oral therapy for acute diarrhea: the underused simple solution. N Engl J Med 1990 Sep 27; 323(13): 891–4
Burkhart DM. Management of acute gastroenteritis in children. Am Fam Physician 1999 Dec; 60(9): 2555–6
Santolucito JB. A retrospective evaluation of the timeliness of physician initiated PICC referrals. JVAD 2001; 6(3): 20–6
Worobec G, Brown MK. Hypodermoclysis therapy: in a chronic care hospital setting. J Gerontol Nurs 1997 Jun; 23(6): 23–8
Atherly-John YC, Cunningham SJ, Crain EF. A randomized trial of oral versus intravenous rehydration in a pe-diatric emergency department. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002 Dec; 156(12): 1240–3
Fonseca BK, Holdgate A, Craig JC. Enteral versus intravenous rehydration therapy for children with gastroenteritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2004 May; 158(5): 483–90
Spandorfer PR, Alessandrini EA, Joffe MD, et al. Oral versus intravenous rehydration of moderately dehydrated children: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 2005 Feb; 115(2): 295–301
Bruera E, Pruvost M, Schoeller T, et al. Proctoclysis for hydration ofterminally ill cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 1998 Apr; 15(4): 216–9
Remington R, Hultman T. Hypodermoclysis to treat dehydration: a review of the evidence. J Am Geriatr Soc 2007 Dec; 55(12): 2051–5
Redbook. Montvale (NJ): Medical Economics Data, 1999
Knauss MD, Walton T, Macon EJ. Switching from i.v. to s.c. epoetin in hemodialysis patients. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2002 Sep 15; 59(18): 1783–4
McFarlane PA, Hillmer MP, Dacouris N. A change from subcutaneous to intravenous erythropoietin increases the cost of anemia therapy. Nephron Clin Pract 2007; 107(3): c90–6
Lee DH, Linker RA, Paulus W, et al. Subcutaneous immu-noglobulin infusion: a new therapeutic option in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Muscle Nerve 2008 Oct 5; 37(3): 406–9
Della MT, Steinmetz L, Campos PR, et al. Subcutaneous use of a fast-acting insulin analog: an alternative treatment for pediatric patients with diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetes Care 2005 Aug; 28(8): 1856–61
Fudin J, Smith HS, Toledo-Binette CS, et al. Use ofcontin-uous ambulatory infusions of concentrated subcutaneous (s.q.) hydromorphone versus intravenous (i.v.) morphine: cost implications for palliative care. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 2000 Sep; 17(5): 347–53
Freedman SB, Adler M, Seshadri R, et al. Oral ondansetron for gastroenteritis in a pediatric emergency department. N Engl J Med 2006 Apr 20; 354(16): 1698–705
Acknowledgements
Professor Jay Pershad received an honorarium in 2007 from Baxter Healthcare Corporation for participation in an expert panel discussing hyaluronidase-facilitated SC infusion for paediatric dehydration. Editorial assistance in the preparation of this manuscript was provided by Barbara J. Goldman, RPh, of Embryon, LLC, a division of Advanced Health Media, LLC, through funding provided by Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pershad, J. A systematic data review of the cost of rehydration therapy. Appl Health Econ Health Policy 8, 203–214 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2165/11534500-000000000-00000
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/11534500-000000000-00000