BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY (BIS) IN YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH ACUTE AND SEMI-ACUTE HYDRATION DISORDERS - POTENTIALS AND LIMITATIONS

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of bioele ctrical impedance spectroscopy in young children suffering of acute hy drational disorders. Whole body and segmental measurements were carrie d out in a group of 42 of children aged 4 to 147 months, using a BIS a nalyzer (Xitron 4000B). This phase of the study involved several hundr ed of BIS measurement, which showed the feasibility of using this tech nique in young children. Using the sweep mode and the modeling softwar e provided for the manufacturer of the instrument, the resistance of t he extracellular (RECW) and intracellular (RICW) compartment was calcu lated. Correlation coefficient (r) and technical error of measurement (TEM) were obtained from paired BIS measurements. RECW showed to be hi ghly reproducible (r = 0.99), with a relatively low TEM (from 1 to 3.5 %), across all segments. The reliability was markedly lower respect to RICW, which shows the potential application of BIS technique even in critically ill young child populations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.