The Impact of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Combined with Intensive Insulin Therapy on Glycemic Control and Clinical Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmpe.202618502

Author(s)

Fengli Zhang1, Lingyu Guan1, Huiwei He1, Xiaohong Chen1, Wenhan Xia1, Danling Li2,*

Affiliation(s)

1Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China 2Dongxiang County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Jiangxi, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

This work aimed to assess whether real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) paired with intensified insulin management alters glucose regulation and patient endpoints for severely unwell adults admitted to ICUs. Methods: A historical controlled cohort study was performed, recruiting 120 adult critically ill patients hospitalized in our ICU between January and June 2024. Sixty patients admitted from January to March were assigned to the control group receiving routine bedside blood glucose monitoring plus insulin pump treatment, while another 60 patients from April to June formed the intervention group treated with real-time CGM and intensive insulin therapy. We contrasted glycemic metrics, insulin-associated markers and patient clinical endpoints across the two cohorts. Results: Compared with the control group, the intervention group had significantly higher glucose target attainment rate, lower blood glucose coefficient of variation and hypoglycemia incidence, as well as shorter time to reach glycemic target. Moreover, participants within the intervention cohort demonstrated decreased daily insulin requirements, briefer periods for intravenous insulin delivery, as well as shortened lengths of ICU hospitalization (all P<0.05).Conclusion: CGM combined with intensive insulin therapy effectively optimizes glycemic management for critically ill ICU patients, decreases glycemic variability and hypoglycemia risk, accelerates target glucose attainment, cuts insulin consumption and shortens ICU hospitalization.

Keywords

Continuous Glucose Monitoring; Glycemic Control; Critically Ill Patients; Intensive Insulin Therapy; Intensive Care Unit

References

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