OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess the budget impact of increasing usage of low chloride balanced solutions (BAL) for IV fluid therapy on costs of fluids and avoidance of fluid-related adverse outcomes in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) from a hospital perspective in Colombia. METHODS: An Excel®-based budget impact model was adapted to assess the impact of increased usage of BAL in SIRS patients versus current IV fluid practice on the costs of IV fluids and fluid-related complications in a hypothetical hospital with 300 beds and 47 patients with SIRS per month. Two scenarios were compared, a baseline scenario which assumed 2% of patients were treated with BAL and an alternate scenario with a BAL adoption of 5% in Year 1, 8% in Year 2, 12% in Year 3, 16% in Year 4 and 20% in Year 5. Complication frequencies of SIRS were adapted from a single observational study. Cost of IV fluids and SIRS complications (length of stay, medication, procedures, professional services and diagnostic costs) were obtained from a literature search of Colombian studies, local national tariffs and expert opinion. All values were reviewed and validated by experts. RESULTS: With BAL adoption increasing progressively each year, a hypothetical Colombian hospital with 300 beds and 47 SIRS patients per month would produce cumulative savings of 78 million Colombian pesos (COP) in Year 1, 235 million COP by Year 2, 495 million COP by Year 3, 860 million COP by Year 4 and 1.33 billion COP by Year 5. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of BAL could produce savings for a Colombian hospital due to a reduction in SIRS-related complications and their associated costs.