A tool to support the clinical decisions of doctors and health professionals, not for self-diagnosis or self-treatment.
This calculator is inside the patient's file in Clinicato: open it from "Medical tools" while you chart the visit, it fills in from the patient's details and vital signs where they are recorded, and adds its result to the visit's plan in one tap, with the "Medical tools" add-on. Try it in your clinic
Calculator
The result shows once you confirm, and a dose is always to be checked against the product label or your drug reference before use.
How it works and when to use it
Holliday-Segar: 100 mL per kilogram a day for the first 10 kg, 50 mL per kilogram for the next 10 and 20 mL per kilogram above 20 kg, and per hour 4, then 2, then 1 mL per kilogram.
It is maintenance only, not deficit or ongoing losses, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP 2018) recommends isotonic solutions with potassium and dextrose for children from 28 days to 18 years.
Reference: Holliday MA, Segar WE. Pediatrics 1957;19:823-32; isotonic maintenance fluids: AAP clinical practice guideline, Feld LG et al. Pediatrics 2018;142:e20183083
Frequently asked questions
Does it include replacing dehydration?
No, the deficit and ongoing losses such as vomiting and diarrhoea are worked out and added separately.
Can it be used for newborns?
No, newborns in their first 28 days have their own needs, outside this rule and the AAP 2018 guideline.
When are fluids kept below this?
In conditions such as excess antidiuretic hormone, heart or kidney failure, as the doctor judges while following electrolytes and urine.
Tools you may also need
- Pediatric dose calculator The dose in mg and mL, and the daily total within its maximums.
- Corrected age calculator Chronological and corrected age, or postmenstrual age before the due date.
- Child BMI calculator A child's BMI and how it is read on growth charts.
- Apgar score calculator The Apgar score of 10 and what it means at that minute.
- Body surface area (BSA) calculator Body surface area in m² by two formulas.
- Ideal and adjusted body weight (Devine) Ideal weight, actual weight as a percentage of it, and adjusted weight.
Clinic software for this specialty
Try Clinicato for your clinic
These calculators are free here for everyone, and in Clinicato 49 medical tools work inside the patient's file with the "Medical tools" add-on: filled from the visit and the vital signs, with the result added to the visit's plan, next to appointments, prescriptions and invoices.