SKIN TURGOR AS A QUANTITATIVE INDEX OF DEHYDRATION IN CHILDREN

Abstract

SKIN TURGOR measured quantitatively in rats with induced dehydration, has been demonstrated to vary with the degree of dehydration. However, two different correlations have been found depending on whether dehydration was primarily due to water loss or primarily due to loss of electrolyte as well as water.¹

The present study was undertaken in an attempt to evaluate the application of this simple measurement to children. In the following report, the correlation of skin turgor time and degree of dehydration in children with primary water depletion and in children suffering from diarrhea are presented.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The patients studied form two groups. The age distribution and the size of the groups are shown in Table I.

The patients in the first group were infants with diarrhea who were admitted to the isolation ward of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh during the winter of 1956. Determinations of the weight, skin turgor, concentrations of electrolytes in serum and nonprotein nitrogen in the blood were made before therapy with fluids was begun and afterwards at various intervals, usually 12 and 24 hours. Change in weight was used as an index of change in hydration. Normal weight was considered to be the weight achieved after complete rehydration as judged by clinical state and "plateauing" of the rapid weight gain. This method of assessment correlated well with the data obtained on three of the patients who happened to have been weighed by their own physician prior to their illness. Patients in whom complete rehydration was not achieved in 36 to 48 hours after admission to the hospital were excluded from this study.