Evaluation of an adult insulin infusion protocol at an academic medical center.

Objective: Acknowledging evidence of possible detrimental effects of tightly controlled blood glucose levels, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Diabetes Association published a consensus statement recommending less strict control for most diabetic patients. As a result of these recommendations, our academic center at Creighton University Medical Center revised its adult insulin infusion protocol to target blood glucose levels ranging from 120 to 180 mg/dL for regular (standard) glycemic control and 80 to 120 mg/dL for tight control; previous targets had ranged from 80 to 180 mg/dL and 70 to 110 mg/dL, respectively. The primary objective was to evaluate the time that blood glucose values were within the target range for patients receiving the new protocol, compared with patients receiving the previous protocol.