Computer-assisted glucose control in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE: Intensive insulin therapy is associated with the risk of hypoglycemia and increased costs of material and personnel. We therefore evaluated the safety and efficiency of a computer-assisted glucose control protocol in a large population of critically ill patients.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational cohort study in three intensive care units (32 beds) in a 1,300-bed university teaching hospital.

PATIENTS: All 2,800 patients admitted to the surgical, neurosurgical, and cardiothoracic units; the study period started at each ICU after implementation of Glucose Regulation for Intensive Care Patients (GRIP), a freely available computer-assisted glucose control protocol.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: We analysed compliance in relation to recommended insulin pump rates and glucose measurement frequency. Patients were on GRIP-ordered pump rates 97% of time. Median measurement time was 5min late (IQR 20min early to 34 min late). Hypoglycemia was uncommon (7% of patients for mild hypoglycemia, < 3.5mmol/l; 0.86% for severe hypoglycemia, < 2.2 mmol/l). Our predefined target range (4.0-7.5 mmol/l) was reached after a median of 5.6 h (IQR 0.2-11.8) and maintained for 89% (70-100%) of the remaining stay at the ICU. The number of measurements needed was 5.9 (4.8-7.3) per patient per day. In-hospital mortality was 10.1%.

CONCLUSIONS: Our computer-assisted glucose control protocol provides safe and efficient glucose regulation in routine intensive care practice. A low rate of hypoglycemic episodes was achieved with a considerably lower number of glucose measurements than used in most other schemes.