Lowering of glucose in critical care: a randomized pilot trial.

Background: Similar to cardiac surgery patients, medical-surgical critically ill patients may benefit from intensive insulin therapy. The objectives of this pilot trial were to evaluate the feasibility of a randomized trial of intensive insulin therapy with respect to (a) achieving target glucose values in the 2 ranges of 5 to 7 and 8 to 10 mmol/L and (b) uncovering problems with the protocol in anticipation of a larger trial.

Setting: The trial was conducted in a 15-bed medical-surgical university-affiliated intensive care unit (ICU).