SUMMARY. The resuscitation of children with more than 10% 13SA bum requires the administration of fluids containing salts and water during the first 48 h. The magic effect of the oral rehydration salt known as "Rehydran-n" in the treatment of children suffering from diarrhoea suggested the idea of trying it in the resuscitation of moderately burned children. Children with burns from 10% to 20% 13SA were chosen for the study. Twenty cases received oral rehydration solution according to a special protocol and 20 cases were resuscitated by the intravenous route using the Parkland formula as a control group. Haematocrit, Hb%, serum Na and K were measured, in addition to the assessment of the clinical picture and determination of the urine vol/h to evaluate the efficiency of oral rehydration therapy in resuscitation. The results were highly encouraging.

The importance of hypovolaemia as a cause of death and of morbidity in bums is widely understood, and of the adequate replacement of lost water, electrolytes and colloid accounts, to an important degree, for the reduction in mortality from bums. The ultimate effectiveness of resuscitation is reflected in early mortality (first 7 days) (Baxter, 1978).
The intravenous administration of fluid is generally unnecessary for children with bums in less than 10% BSA. Even in young patients, however, urine output and vital signs should be monitored and fluids given orally, with care being taken to prevent gastric dilatation and aspiration if ileus supervenes (Bruitt, 1978).
The frequent occurrence of ileus in patients with more extensive bums precludes oral resuscitation, and intravenous fluids will be required.
Children with bums in more than 10% BSA will become hypovolaemic without fluid resuscitation. In our Burn Unit children with bums represent more than 50% of the in-patients. About 40% of these burned children have a bum size ranging from 10% to 20% BSA.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the oral rehydration salt "Rehydran-n" in the resuscitation of this group of moderately burned children, considering its excellent success in the treatment of children suffering from diarrhoea.

This study was carried out in 40 burned children admitted to the Bum Unit of Assiut University Hospital during the period from July 1989 to January 1990. Their bums ranged from 10% to 20% BSA. All these children received the general care for bum patients according to the protocol of treatment in our Unit.
Resuscitation of these burned children was either by oral rehydration therapy or by intravenous fluid therapy. The choice of either form of resuscitation was randomly made, one patient receiving oral fluid, the next intravenous fluid, and so on.
The first group included 20 children with burns. Their ages ranged from 4 months to 10 years. I I were males and 9 were females, and the mean extent of their bums was 14.2 +/- 2.8% BSA. The cause of the bum was flames in I I children and scalds in 9 (Tab. 1).
This group of patients was resuscitated by the oral route using the oral rehydration salt (ORS) known as "Rehydran-n" (Cid) (Tab. 2). Assuming that orally given fluids will be completely absorbed by the GIT and that the amount of fluids required for resuscitation will depend on the weight of the patient and the extent of the bum, the fluids needed for the first 24 hours should be in the range of- 4 ml/% BBSA/kg
Each packet of the ORS must be dissolved in 200 cc of water. We can calculate the number of packets by dividing the total amount of fluids by 200, half the amount of solution to be given in the first 8 hours and the other half during the next 16 hours.
This fluid will be given by the child's mother under supervision of the nurse and the Resident of the Bum Unit, using a teaspoon, plastic dropper or a 5 ml plastic syringe.
The rate of giving the solution will depend on the calculated amount of fluids, but is about 5 ml every 2 to 5 minutes. This solution is also given on the second or even the third post-bum day, but in smaller amounts, in addition to other nutritional materials according to the child's needs.
The second group included 20 children with bums considered as the control group. Their ages ranged from 1.5 to 12 years. 12 were males and 8 were females.
The cause of bum was flames in 10 patients and scalds in the remaining 10. The patients in this group were resuscitated by intravenous fluid therapy using the Parkland formula (Baxter, 1981) as a guideline.
All the patients under study were monitored for vital signs and urine output per h. Blood samples were taken on day 1 and 5 to evaluate the efficacy of resuscitation, by determination of serum Na and K, percentage of haemoglobin and haematocrit values.

Comparing the mean serum Na levels in the two groups (Tab. 3), it was found that the values were significantly below average in both groups (p<0,05) on day I and in spite of its increase on day 5, it was still below the normal levels and also below the mean serum Na level of normal children in the Assiut locality.
On the other hand the mean serum K level was within normal limits; it is of interest that on day 5, the mean level decreased, but was still within normal values (Tab. 3).
Regarding the haernatocrit values and Hb% a decrease in both levels occurred on day 5 in the Ist group, while there were no changes in the values of the 2nd group (Tab. 3).
The urine output during the first 24 h was adequate in both groups. It ranged from 0.8 to 2.5 ml/h in the I st group, with a mean of (1.6 +/- 0.7) (Tab. 1).
There was no case of mortality among the patients in the I st group, while in the 2nd group one male child with a flame burn in the face and front of the chest, in about 20% BSA, aged 1.5 years, died (mortality rate 5%). Death occurred on the 6th day after a severe attack of diarrhoea with rapid deterioration and failure of all resuscitative measures.

The adequacy of resuscitation is most readily judged by frequent assessment of the patient's general condition, hourly measurement of vital signs and measurement of urinary output per h following placement of an indwelling catheter (Bruitt, 1978).
Richard (1986) stated that children with less than 20% BSA bum can be resuscitated by maintaining adequate oral hydration, using a solution containing sodium chloride 4 gm, sodium bicarbonate 1.5 gm and orange squash to taste in each litre.
In our trial of giving the ORS "Rehydran-n" for resuscitation of children with burns between 10% to 20% BSA, it was found that the method of giving this oral, solution was very simple and most of our patients' mothers were familiar with and well-trained in using "Rehydran-n". This may be attributed to the television programmes directed at treatment of summer diarrhoea.
In spite of the survival of all our patients receiving oral rehydration therapy, it was found that the mean serum Na level was significantly below normal (p<0.05), which may be attributed to low sodium in the solution. The same low Na level was also noticed in the control group resuscitated by intravenous lactated Ringer's solution, which is a hypotonic solution (Na content 130 mEq/1.) To overcome this problem, Monallo (1984) suggested restoring the water/salt balance by infusing saline solutions of varying sodium content.