Carbohydrate Consumption as a Factor in Aspart Dosing

Summary

Good sugar control in postoperative hospitalized patient has been shown to improve wound healing and infection rates. However, sugar control is difficult to achieve and suboptimal use of insulin is thought to be a contributory factor. Though it is known that generally the consumption of carbohydrates alone raises the blood sugar, the usual practice of dosing meal-time insulin is based on the fraction of the total meal-tray eaten which includes proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This leads to an overestimation of insulin required for a patient who consumes a portion of mainly proteins and fats on their trays or an underestimation for those eating mainly the carbohydrates on their tray. Low sugars or high blood sugars can follow respectively. Hypothesis: The purpose of this study is to see if dosing meal-time insulin based on grams of carbohydrates consumed will result in better sugar control compared to the usual practice of dosing meal-time insulin based on percent of total meal consumed in hospitalized patients.

Timeline

Start

2011-04

Primary completion

2012-12

Completion

2012-12

Publications

• Background Shilling AM, Raphael J. Diabetes, hyperglycemia, and infections. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2008 Sep;22(3):519-35. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2008.06.005.
• Results Cook CB, Castro JC, Schmidt RE, Gauthier SM, Whitaker MD, Roust LR, Argueta R, Hull BP, Zimmerman RS. Diabetes care in hospitalized noncritically ill patients: More evidence for clinical inertia and negative therapeutic momentum. J Hosp Med. 2007 Jul;2(4):203-11. doi: 10.1002/jhm.188.
• Results Wexler DJ, Meigs JB, Cagliero E, Nathan DM, Grant RW. Prevalence of hyper- and hypoglycemia among inpatients with diabetes: a national survey of 44 U.S. hospitals. Diabetes Care. 2007 Feb;30(2):367-9. doi: 10.2337/dc06-1715. No abstract available.
• Results Rabasa-Lhoret R, Garon J, Langelier H, Poisson D, Chiasson JL. Effects of meal carbohydrate content on insulin requirements in type 1 diabetic patients treated intensively with the basal-bolus (ultralente-regular) insulin regimen. Diabetes Care. 1999 May;22(5):667-73. doi: 10.2337/diacare.22.5.667.

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Indications