Use of Serum Electrolyte Panels in Gastroenteritis: In Reply

In Reply .— We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the comments regarding our manuscript and thank the authors for their interest on this topic. We agree that it is important to try and understand the role of the serum electrolyte panel (SEP) in children with gastroenteritis who receive intravenous fluids (IVFs) for rehydration. However, we do disagree with several of the points raised. The assertion that we concluded that all mild and moderately dehydrated children must have an SEP is not accurate. It must be remembered that our patient population consisted of children in whom attempts at oral rehydration therapy had failed and who the pediatric emergency medicine attending physicians believed required IVF rehydration. Our initial hypothesis was that obtaining routine SEPs on these children would not be beneficial. However, after looking at the results, we did not believe this was the proper conclusion, and as stated, we feel that an SEP can provide useful information for the treatment of some children receiving IVFs for dehydration. We recognize that there are limitations in our study design, such as not blinding the treating physician to the SEP results. However, as stated in our article, that …