Inpatient management of diabetes.

Abstract

Hyperglycemia is common in hospitalized patients with diabetes and contributes to poor outcomes in this population. Use of intravenous insulin protocols for patients who are unable to eat, continuation of usual insulin regimens for those who are eating, pre-meal insulin supplements for hyperglycemia, and avoidance of sliding-scale insulin can help the clinician improve glycemic control. Careful attention to management of diabetes in the hospitalized patient decreases the risk of ketoacidosis, fluid and electrolyte abnormalities, and infection; in critically ill postoperative patients, tight glucose control with insulin administration decreases the risk of death.