Woodcock and Woodcock showed in 2012 that the revised Starling equation (steady-state Starling principle) provides scientific explanations for clinical observations concerning intravenous fluid therapy. Traditional teaching of both filtration and absorption of fluid occurring in a single capillary has been superseded by the concept of a vital circulation of extracellular fluid running parallel to the circulation of blood. New approaches to the treatment of oedema (tissue swelling) are suggested.