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Concept
Fluid compartments
Summary
The human body and even its individual body fluids may be conceptually divided into various fluid compartments, which, although not literally anatomic compartments, do represent a real division in terms of how portions of the body's water, solutes, and suspended elements are segregated. The two main fluid compartments are the intracellular and extracellular compartments. The intracellular compartment is the space within the organism's cells; it is separated from the extracellular compartment by cell membranes.
About two-thirds of the total body water of humans is held in the cells, mostly in the cytosol, and the remainder is found in the extracellular compartment. The extracellular fluids may be divided into three types: interstitial fluid in the "interstitial compartment" (surrounding tissue cells and bathing them in a solution of nutrients and other chemicals), blood plasma and lymph in the "intravascular compartment" (inside the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels), and small amounts of transcellular fluid such as ocular and cerebrospinal fluids in the "transcellular compartment".
The normal processes by which life self-regulates its biochemistry (homeostasis) produce fluid balance across the fluid compartments. Water and electrolytes are continuously moving across barriers (eg, cell membranes, vessel walls), albeit often in small amounts, to maintain this healthy balance. The movement of these molecules is controlled and restricted by various mechanisms. When illnesses upset the balance, electrolyte imbalances can result.
The interstitial and intravascular compartments readily exchange water and solutes, but the third extracellular compartment, the transcellular, is thought of as separate from the other two and not in dynamic equilibrium with them.
The science of fluid balance across fluid compartments has practical application in intravenous therapy, where doctors and nurses must predict fluid shifts and decide which IV fluids to give (for example, isotonic versus hypotonic), how much to give, and how fast (volume or mass per minute or hour).
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