Electrolyte solutions are widely used in a number of clinical therapies in almost all areas of medicine, with particular importance in intensive care, surgery and the treatment of infections. Despite long experience in the use of single and combined-formula electrolyte solutions, constant progress in this area continues. New ionic formulas are being developed and are in some cases specific for particular situations and diagnoses (1, 2).Results from recent studies into the use of electrolyte solutions have shown the benefits of a class of solutions which in addition to appropriate proportions of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium also contain organic anions such as acetate, malate and occasionally lactate (6,7,10). The benefit of such infusion solutions is their ability to compensate fluctuations in the internal environment. This includes "buffering" the physiological acid-base status and ion fluctuations, which can significantly affect physiological functions, such as the potassium/ calcium ratio, maintenance of the extracellular volume by sodium content and control of variations in osmolality. Among the most commonly used solutions of this type are the formulations given in Tab. 1.It is possible that the presence of metabolisable organic anions (e.g. acetate, malate, lactate) could affect oxygen consumption, particularly where the patient receives large volumes of electrolyte solutions during volume resuscitation. This could result in changes in metabolic indicators such as VO 2 , VCO 2 , resting energy expenditure (REE), etc.The influence of electrolyte infusion solutions on the intracellular energy state is a largely underestimated parameter, despite the fact that active (endergonic) transport of the majority of ions across the cell membrane is dependent on it (11).In order to improve this therapeutic approach as much as possible and to obtain reliable clinical data which will allow further development and improvement of infusion solutions, a clinical study has been conducted to investigate the metabolic and energy response to Ringerfundin (B Braun Melsungen AG, Melsungen, Germany) and Plasma-Lyte (Baxter International Inc., Deerfield, USA) in healthy volunteers. Summary: Measurement of parameters of energy requirement, respiratory quotient (RQ), rate of oxygen consumption (VO 2 ) and rate of carbon dioxide production (VCO 2 ) reveal Ringerfundin as an excellent and metabolically stable-acting balanced ionic solution, which does not increase the consumption of O 2 or the total energy requirement. In conclusion, Ringerfundin was very well tolerated and in no case were observed undesirable effects.