Benefits of a Bolus Calculator in Pediatric Patients on Multiple Daily Insulin Injections

Carbohydrate (Carb) counting is a meal planning approach for patients with diabetes mellitus that focuses on carbohydrate as the primary nutrient affecting postprandial glycaemic response. In the early 1990's the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) used Carb counting as one of its education tools. More recently, short acting insulin analogues and insulin pumps have made the role of Carb counting important and popular. Carb counting can be used to estimate carbohydrate intake and adjust insulin around mixed meals and snacks using insulin to carbohydrate ratio. This effectively addresses the variable eating habits of most children and adolescents. Carb counting can make food planning more flexible and thus more acceptable for young patients with diabetes. Roche has recently launched the Accu-Chek Aviva Expert recently preliminary tested in adults4, being a blood glucose meter with integrated bolus calculator and memory function. This bolus calculator estimates the dose of insulin to be administrated on the basis of the following parameters: Current blood glucose, grams of carbohydrate, carbohydrate to insulin ratio, insulin sensitivity, target blood glucose and insulin action time. Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that paediatric patients in MDI therapy with suboptimal regulated diabetes will achieve better glycemic control by using Accu-Chek Aviva Expert rather than carbohydrate counting alone without the use of an external calculator.