IV Therapy: When It Makes Clinical Sense — and When It's Just Expensive Water

There are legitimate reasons to infuse: documented deficiency with poor oral absorption, dehydration, certain physician-directed protocols, and specific perioperative or recovery contexts.

There are also popular reasons that don't hold up. For a healthy adult with a normal diet and normal labs, most water-soluble vitamins delivered intravenously are cleared renally within hours. The subjective 'boost' is real to the person feeling it, and is largely hydration plus expectation.

Our approach is to test first, treat the finding, and re-test. If your labs don't support an infusion, we'll tell you and put the money toward something that will move a number.