List common features.
General symptoms include thirst, headache, weakness, dizziness, and fatigue.
Physical findings often include:
All patients: dry skin, dry mucus membranes, and reduced tears
Infants: sunken fontanelle, irritability, and lethargy
Hemodynamic instability may be present in severe cases
Describe the principle of estimating the severity.
Dehydration and hypovolemia often coexist in the same patient
Estimating overall fluid loss (due to both processes) is helpful to stratify clinical severity upon presentation
Estimate percent weight loss based on clinical features.
Severe fluid loss is a cause of hypovolemic shock
Clinical features according to severity (table).
Last changeda year ago
