Effect of intravenous glucocorticoids on the efficiency of tight glycaemic control

Intravenous glucocorticoids (GC) are often administered during critical illness in the context of post-transplant immunosuppression, ARDS, septic shock or severe inflammatory vasoplegia. As a counter-regulatory hormone of insulin, GC may interfere substantially with tight glycaemic control to normal for age blood glucose levels by intensive insulin therapy. Therefore we hypothesized that the first administration of an intravenous GC gives rise to significant hyperglycaemia and that the effect is more pronounced for the synthetic GC.