Continuous Glucose Monitoring Using a New Subcutaneous Insulin Protocol for Mild to Moderate Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic State (HHS) are severe complications of diabetes mellitus and one of the most common causes of hospital admission among people with diabetes. Up to now, the standard of care for managing DKA and HHS at Regions Hospital has involved intravenous (IV) insulin to treat hyperglycemia. However, the use of IV insulin is associated with increased care team resource utilization and the potential for adverse events such as hypoglycemia. Regions Hospital is in the process of implementing a new subcutaneous (subQ) insulin protocol, which has the potential to reduce resource utilization and improve patient safety, while producing similar outcomes for patients. One critical part of the new protocol is reducing the frequency of point of care capillary blood glucose monitoring, commonly known as a Finger Stick Blood Glucose test (FSBG) from hourly (Q1) to every 4 hours (Q4). The use of subQ insulin with less frequent blood sugar monitoring is possible owing to subQ insulin's slower mechanism of action than the IV insulin. Protocols have been shown to be safe within other hospital systems. However, the change from Q1 to Q4 monitoring of blood sugars does lead to some concern on the part of providers about correcting hyperglycemia too slowly or failing to recognize impending hypoglycemic events. The use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) technology has been proposed to provide continuous (i.e. every 5 mins) updates about patient glucose levels in between FSBG checks in patients being treated for mild to moderate DKA or HHS. This continuous monitoring would help provide prompt identification of hypoglycemic episodes and improve safety during hospitalization, a change that could provide peace of mind to care providers and patients as the change is made from Q1 to Q4 FSBG. Using a prospective, mixed methods study design, the investigators will assess the feasibility, usefulness, and care team acceptability of CGM in conjunction with FSBG during implementation of the new subQ DKA/HHS protocol at Regions Hospital. This will include evaluating how many patients agree to have a CGM device placed, time to place the CGM devices, CGM impact on length of stay, level of care required, frequency of alerts to changing glucose levels events, and assessing the match between CGM and FSBG readings done in the inpatient setting. Results will help inform cost effective, safe, patient-centered strategies, while gauging care team satisfaction to optimize DKA and HHS management in the future.