Hypoglycemic events are less likely in inpatients with diabetes treated with an electronic glycemic management system compared with usual care, according to data presented here.

“Patients who were treated with the [electronic glycemic management system] had a statistically lower incidence of hypoglycemic events and lower average blood glucose compared with [usual care], suggesting it may be easier to achieve glycemic targets safely for patient in the hospital setting,” Joseph Aloi, MD, section chief of endocrinology and metabolism at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told Endocrine Today.

Aloi and colleagues from Glytec compared rates of hypoglycemia among inpatients with diabetes treated with Glytec’s electronic glycemic management system (eGMS; n = 13,351) or usual care (n = 45,335).

Target blood glucose was set at 100 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL. Three categories of mild to moderate hypoglycemia were defined as less than 70 mg/dL, less than 60 mg/dL and less than 50 mg/dL; and severe hypoglycemia was defined as less than 40 mg/dL. Both groups had blood glucose at admission and meanblood glucose measurements.

Any hypoglycemia of less than 70 mg/dL occurred in fewer patients treated with the eGMS (13.8%) compared with those treated with normal care (21.7%). The eGMS group also had fewer participants with blood glucose less than 60 mg/dL (6% vs. 13.7%), less than 50 mg/dL (2.5% vs. 7.7%) and less than 40 mg/dL (0.9% vs. 3.6%) compared with the usual care group.

Average blood glucose was lower among the eGMS group (178 mg/dL) compared with the usual care group (188 mg/dL).

“The findings suggest that [eGMS] may be superior to usual diabetes care,” Aloi told Endocrine Today. “By leveraging technology, providers can offer industrialized insulin doses based on risk factors, such as insulin to carbohydrate intake, to quickly and effectively get patients within target blood glucose levels.” – by Amber Cox