Neutral protamine hagedorn/regular insulin in the treatment of inpatient hyperglycemia: Comparison of 3 basal-bolus regimens

AIM: To compare the safety and efficacy or 3 basal-bolus regimens of neutral protamine hagedorn (NPH)/regular insulin in the management of inpatient hyperglycemia. METHODS: We randomized 105 patients with blood glucose levels between 140 and 400 mg/dL to a basal-bolus regimen of NPH insulin given once (n = 30), twice (n = 40) or three times (n = 35) daily, in addition to pre-meal regular insulin. Major outcomes included were differences in glycemic control, frequency of hypoglycemia and total insulin dose. RESULTS: NPH insulin given in a once-daily regimen was associated with better glycemic control (58.3%) compared to twice daily (42.4%) and three times daily (48.9) regimens (P = 0.031). The frequency of hypoglycemia was similar between the three groups (2.0%, 0.7% and 1.2%, P = 0.21). The mean insulin dose at discharge was 0.48 ± 0.14 U/kg in the once-daily group compared to 0.69 ± 0.28 in the twice-daily, and 0.65 ± 0.20 in the three times daily regimens (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: NPH insulin administered in a once-daily regimen resulted in improvement in glycemic control with similar rates of hypoglycemia compared to a twice-daily and a three times-daily regimen. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether this regimen could be implemented in all hospitalized patients with hyperglycemia.