Insensible Water Losses per Day by Hospitalized Infants and Children

Water lost insensibly by way of the lungs and skin is an important factor in determining both the body requirement and the body tolerance for water.1Under conditions where homeostatic capacity to vary urine water output is greatly reduced by renal failure, insensible water loss (I. W. L.) may be the chief determinant of water tolerance.* A survey of the literature for information concerning I. W. L. by persons of various ages reveals that most observers have been interested primarily in relations between I. W. L. and energy output under basal conditions.4Very little information is available concerning the 24-hour losses of water occurring insensibly under the nonbasal conditions ordinarily pertaining in patients requiring parenteral fluid therapy or regulation of water intake because of pathologic oliguria or anuria. It therefore appeared desirable to make a study of I. W. L. as it occurs over 24-hour periods under ordinary