Impact of a subcutaneous insulin protocol in the emergency department: Rush Emergency Department Hyperglycemia Intervention (REDHI).

Abstract Objective: We evaluated a hyperglycemia treatment protocol for use in the Emergency Department (ED) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) before admission to the hospital or discharge home. Methods: Fifty-four consecutive patients with a history of DM and an ED admission blood glucose (BG) > 200 mg/dL were treated with subcutaneous (SQ) insulin aspart every 2 h until BG was 200 mg/dL. Results: One hundred percent of intervention patients received insulin aspart, whereas only 35% of historical controls received insulin therapy. In the intervention group, mean BG declined from 333 ± 104 mg/dL on ED admission to 158 ± 68 mg/dL on ED discharge. In the historical control group, mean BG decline was significantly less, from 322 ± 126 mg/dL on admission to 242 ± 79 mg/dL on discharge ( p p