Comparing the Accuracy of the Flowmeter in Calculating the Amount of Fluid Intake with Conventional Prescription of Fluids by Nurses in Cardiovascular Disease Patients

The importance of balancing fluid and serum electrolytes in critically ill patients necessitates the exact calculation of the intravenous fluid intake in this group. In the present study، the accuracy of this approach in calculating the amount of fluid intake in patients with cardiovascular disorders was compared with that of the flowmeter. This cross-sectional study was performed on 36 consecutive patients hospitalized in the CCU of Rajaie Cardiovascular، Medical and Research Center (Tehran، Iran) because of evident cardiovascular disorders. The amount of received intravenous fluid was measured by the flowmeter and by nurses using conventional prescription methods simultaneously. The difference between the flowmeter values and gold standard values was not significant (776. 11 ± 39. 75 vs. 764. 97 ± 37. 94، mean difference = -11. 14 ± 44. 51; p value = 0. 142)، whereas there was a significant difference between the nurses'' recordings and the gold standard values (p value< 0. 001). Also، the difference between the values measured by the nurses and those recorded by the flowmeter was slightly significant (mean difference = 4. 944، SD = 14. 873; p value= 0. 054). The intravenous measurement of fluid intake via the flowmeter can be considered equivalent to the gold standard، and it can lead to a decrease in biases and side effects of treatment protocols.