LOW-DOSE AND HIGH-DOSE INTRAVENOUS INSULIN THERAPY FOR DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS

Low-dose continuous insulin infusion was compared with a conventional high-dose i.v. bolus method of insulin administration in 18 episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis. The average rate of reduction in serum glucose concentration was 9.5 .+-. 3.8%/h in the continuous infusion group and 10.7 .+-. 4.7%/h in the bolus group. Arterial blood pH was corrected to 7.35 by 9.9 .+-. 2.6/h in the continuous infusion group and by 10.4 .+-. 3.2/h in the bolus group. The above means are not significantly different between groups. By the time pH was corrected to 7.35, patients in the continuous infusion group had received 121 .+-. 44 units of insulin, whereas those in the bolus group had received 326 .+-. 152 units. The continuous low-dose insulin infusion method is as safe and efficacious as the conventional high-dose i.v. bolus method.