What do systematic reviews say?

Starches vs crystalloid

Starches showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality (at end of compared with crystalloid (moderate certainty).

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.97 [0.86, 1.09]
  24 studies · 11177 participants
  Moderate

Starches vs crystalloid

Starches showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality (at 90 days) compared with crystalloid (moderate certainty).

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.01 [0.9, 1.14]
  15 studies · 10415 participants
  Moderate

Starches vs crystalloid

Starches showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality (within 30 days) compared with crystalloid (moderate certainty).

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.99 [0.9, 1.09]
  11 studies · 10135 participants
  Moderate

Starches vs crystalloid

Starches probably leads to higher transfusion of blood products compared with crystalloid (moderate certainty).

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.19 [1.02, 1.39]
  8 studies · 1917 participants
  Moderate

Starches vs crystalloid

Starches probably leads to higher renal replacement therapy compared with crystalloid (moderate certainty).

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.3 [1.14, 1.48]
  9 studies · 8527 participants
  Moderate

Starches vs crystalloid

• Colloids versus crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in critically ill people 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  Very low