Report of high insulin requirements in pediatric critically ill patients with COVID-19. Experience with continuous remote glucose monitoring

Abstract

Critically ill patients with COVID-19 suffer from sustained hyperglycemia that is difficult to manage. Added to this is the challenge of minimizing exposure to contagion. In this article we analyze the metabolic evolution of two pediatric patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for COVID-19 patients at the Hospital “Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan ”from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who required treatment with intravenous insulin and whose blood glucose was remotely monitored with the InsuMate® platform developed at the National University of La Plata. The patients required insulin infusion rates in doses markedly higher than those of other critically ill patients, who were impressively related to the values of inflammation markers. The infusion could be adjusted with four daily glucose monitors and the metrics obtained with the glucose monitor. The use of the continuous remote glucose monitoring system made it possible to decrease the frequency of glycemic monitoring during treatment.

Keywords

• covid-19
• hiperglucemia, paciente crítico pediátrico, monitoreo remoto de glucosa