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Nial Wheate, Professor and Director Academic Excellence, Macquarie University

Hospitals worldwide are short of saline. We can’t just switch to other IV fluids – here’s why

Australia NIAL
Pavel Kosolapov/Shutterstock

Last week, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration added intravenous (IV) fluids to the growing list of medicines in short supply. The shortage is due to higher-than-expected demand and manufacturing issues.

Two particular IV fluids are affected: saline and compound sodium lactate (also called Hartmann’s solution). Both fluids are made with salts.

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