Is nasogastric fluid therapy a safe alternative to the intravenous route in infants with bronchiolitis?

摘要

It is mid-December. As a paediatric SHO working a busy evening shift in a district general hospital, you are called to re-site the intravenous cannula of an infant with bronchiolitis. This is the fifth time that day you have been asked to perform such a task, and you approach the distressed, chubby infant with a sense of dread. Of the 20 children on the ward, 15 have bronchiolitis and 10 are on intravenous fluids. You consider how much distress placement and regular replacement of the cannulae causes these infants, and wonder if fluids could be given safely by another route. Would rehydration using a nasogastric tube (NGT) be appropriate?