The role of fluid restriction in abdominal surgery

Recently, Myles et al. (1) published a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) concluding that compared to liberal fluid regimen, restricted fluid regimen did not improve clinical outcomes in patients after abdominal surgery. Perioperative fluid management plays an important role in postoperative care. As fluid accumulation was associated with poor outcomes in surgical patients (2), restricted fluid protocol was investigated to alleviate this situation.