Fluid Overload in Children Following Hematopoietic Cell Transplant: A Comprehensive Review.

Fluid overload significantly increases morbidity and mortality in critically ill children. Following hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT), children are at a high risk of fluid accumulation due to essential increased fluid intake for nutrition, blood products, and antimicrobials. In addition, many complications predispose these children to capillary leak and fluid overload (FO), such as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, engraftment syndrome, sepsis, and acute kidney injury (AKI). FO > 10% occurs in nearly half of children following HCT and is associated with a lower PICU survival rate. In addition, in children with acute respiratory failure post HCT, each 1% increase in cumulative fluid balance on d 3 increases the odds of PICU mortality by 3%. Furthermore, FO worsens AKI. Tools such as the renal angina index and urinary biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin can help identify patients at risk of AKI and FO. Early detection, prevention, and intervention are crucial to improving outcomes in this population. Management strategies include fluid restriction, diuretics, and continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) when FO exceeds 10% and other measures have failed.