Subcutaneous Use of a Fast-Acting Insulin Analog: An alternative treatment for pediatric patients with diabetic ketoacidosis - Alternative Medicine for Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Subcutaneous Use of a Fast-Acting Insulin Analog
An alternative treatment for pediatric patients with diabetic ketoacidosis
Received for publication November 1, 2004. Accepted for publication May 15, 2005.
Thais Della Manna, MD1, Leandra Steinmetz, MD1, Paula R. Campos, MD1, Sylvia C.L. Farhat, MD2, Cláudio Schvartsman, MD, PHD2, Hilton Kuperman, MD1, Nuvarte Setian, MD, PHD1 and Durval Damiani, MD, PHD1
Diabetes Care

© 2005 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc.

1 Pediatric Endocrine Unit, São Paulo University Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
2 Pediatric Emergency Unit, São Paulo University Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Durval Damiani, MD, PhD, Rua Bela Cintra 2117, Apto. 9, 01415–002, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E-mail: durvald@terra.com.br

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE—To look for technical simplification and economic efficiency in the treatment of pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) with subcutaneous use of the fast-acting insulin analog (lispro) and compare its use with regular intravenous insulin treatment.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In this controlled clinical trial from June 2001 to June 2003, we randomized 60 episodes of DKA with a blood glucose level ≥16.6 mmol/l (300 mg/dl), venous pH <7.3 and/or bicarbonate <15 mmol/l, or ketonuria greater than ++. Of the 60 episodes, 30 were treated with subcutaneous lispro (0.15 units/kg) given every 2 h (lispro group) and the other 30 cases received continuous intravenous regular insulin (0.1 unit · kg–1 · h–1; CIRI group). Volume deficit was repaired with 10-ml/kg aliquots of 0.9% sodium chloride. Laboratory monitoring included hourly bedside capillary glucose, venous blood gas, ß-hydroxybutyrate, and electrolytes. Plasma blood glucose levels were measured on admission, 2 h after admission, when capillary blood glucose reached ≤13.8 mmol/l (250 mg/dl), and 6, 12, and 24 h thereafter.

RESULTS—Capillary glucose levels decreased by 2.9 and 2.6 mmol · l–1 · h–1 in the lispro and CIRI groups, respectively, but blood glucose fluctuated at different time intervals. In the CIRI group, metabolic acidosis and ketosis resolved in the first 6-h period after capillary glucose reached 13.8 mmol/l, whereas in the lispro group, they resolved in the next 6-h interval; however, both groups met DKA recovery criteria without complications.

CONCLUSIONS—DKA treatment with a subcutaneous fast-acting insulin analog represents a cost-effective and technically simplified procedure that precludes intensive care unit admission.

Abbreviations: CIRI, continuous intravenous regular insulin • DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis

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