Insulin therapy protects the central and peripheral nervous system of intensive care patients. Impact of intensive insulin therapy on neuromuscular complications and ventilator dependency in the medical intensive care unit. The effect of intensive insulin therapy on infection rate, vasospasm, neurologic outcome, and mortality in neurointensive care unit after intracranial aneurysm clipping in patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage: a randomized prospective pilot trial. Intensive intraoperative insulin therapy versus conventional glucose management during cardiac surgery: a randomized trial. Adjunctive corticosteroid therapy for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS: a randomized European multicenter open label study. A multicenter randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of adjunctive corticosteroids in the treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia complicating the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Intensive versus conventional insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes patients undergoing D2 gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Intensive insulin therapy with insulin lispro: a randomized trial of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion versus multiple daily insulin injection.
To investigate the effectiveness of maintaining blood glucose levels below 6.1 mmol/L with insulin as prevention of secondary injury to the central and peripheral nervous systems of intensive care patients.
                The authors studied the effect of intensive insulin therapy on critical illness polyneuropathy (CIPNP), assessed by weekly EMG screening, and its impact on mechanical ventilation dependency, as a prospectively planned subanalysis of a large randomized, controlled trial of 1,548 intensive care patients. In the 63 patients admitted with isolated brain injury, the authors studied the impact of insulin therapy on intracranial pressure, diabetes insipidus, seizures, and long-term rehabilitation at 6 and 12 months follow-up.
                Intensive insulin therapy reduced ventilation dependency (p = 0.0007; Mantel-Cox log rank test) and the risk of CIPNP (p < 0.0001). The risk of CIPNP among the 405 long-stay (> or =7 days in intensive care unit) patients was lowered by 49% (p < 0.0001). Of all metabolic and clinical effects of insulin therapy, and corrected for known risk factors, the level of glycemic control independently explained this benefit (OR for CIPNP 1.26 [1.09 to 1.46] per mmol blood glucose, p = 0.002). In turn, prevention of CIPNP explained the ability of intensive insulin therapy to reduce the risk of prolonged mechanical ventilation (OR 3.75 [1.49 to 9.39], p = 0.005). In isolated brain injury patients, intensive insulin therapy reduced mean (p = 0.003) and maximal (p < 0.0001) intracranial pressure while identical cerebral perfusion pressures were obtained with eightfold less vasopressors (p = 0.01). Seizures (p < 0.0001) and diabetes insipidus (p = 0.06) occurred less frequently. At 12 months follow-up, more brain-injured survivors in the intensive insulin group were able to care for most of their own needs (p = 0.05).
                Preventing even moderate hyperglycemia with insulin during intensive care protected the central and peripheral nervous systems, with clinical consequences such as shortening of intensive care dependency and possibly better long-term rehabilitation. Critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy causes limb and respiratory muscle weakness, prolongs mechanical ventilation, and extends hospitalization of intensive care patients. Besides controlling risk factors, no specific prevention or treatment exists. Recently, intensive insulin therapy prevented critical illness polyneuropathy in a surgical intensive care unit.
                To investigate the impact of intensive insulin therapy on polyneuropathy/myopathy and treatment with prolonged mechanical ventilation in medical patients in the intensive care unit for at least 7 days.
                This was a prospectively planned subanalysis of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of intensive insulin versus conventional therapy on morbidity and mortality in critically ill medical patients. All patients who were still in intensive care on Day 7 were screened weekly by electroneuromyography. The effect of intensive insulin therapy on critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy and the relationship with duration of mechanical ventilation were assessed.
                Independent of risk factors, intensive insulin therapy reduced incidence of critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy (107/212 [50.5%] to 81/208 [38.9%], p = 0.02). Treatment with prolonged (> or = 14 d) mechanical ventilation was reduced from 99 of 212 (46.7%) to 72 of 208 (34.6%) (p = 0.01). This was statistically only partially explained by prevention of critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy.
                In a subset of medical patients in the intensive care unit for at least 7 days, enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of intensive insulin therapy, those assigned to intensive insulin therapy had a reduced incidence of critical illness polyneuropathy/myopathy and were treated with prolonged mechanical ventilation less frequently. It is unclear if avoiding hyperglycemia during intensive care after acute brain injury improves morbidity, mortality, and neurologic outcome. This prospective randomized trial tested whether intensive insulin therapy affected infection rates, vasospasm, mortality, or long-term neurologic outcome in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients during their intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Comparison was made against conventional insulin therapy using a randomized trial design. The primary outcome measure was infection rate until the fourteenth postoperative day in the ICU or until patient discharge. Secondary end points were the incidence of vasospasm until the fourteenth postoperative day in the ICU or until patient discharge, and neurologic outcome and mortality at 6 months follow-up. A total of 78 patients were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned either to conventional insulin therapy or to intensive insulin therapy (38 and 40 patients, respectively). The infection rate during the study was significantly higher in patients who received conventional insulin therapy than in patients who received intensive insulin therapy (42% vs. 27%; P<0.001). The incidence of vasospasm during the study was also similar in conventional and intensive therapy groups (31.5% vs. 27.6% in the conventional and intensive insulin therapy groups; P=0.9). Overall mortality rates at 6 months were similar in the 2 groups (18% vs.15%; P=0.9), as was the neurologic outcome at 6 months [modified Rankin score >3 in 22/38 patients (57.8%) in the conventional therapy group vs. 21/40 patients (52.5%) in the intensive insulin therapy group; P=0.7]. Intensive insulin therapy in patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage admitted to a postoperative neurosurgical ICU after surgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms decreases infection rates. The benefit of strict glycemic control on postoperative vasospasm, neurologic outcome, and mortality rates does not seem to be affected by intensive insulin therapy. It is not known whether rigorous intraoperative glycemic control reduces death and morbidity in cardiac surgery patients.
                To compare outcomes of intensive insulin therapy during cardiac surgery with those of conventional intraoperative glucose management.
                A randomized, open-label, controlled trial with blinded end point assessment.
                Tertiary care center.
                Adults with and without diabetes who were undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery.
                The primary outcome was a composite of death, sternal infections, prolonged ventilation, cardiac arrhythmias, stroke, and renal failure within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcome measures were length of stay in the intensive care unit and hospital.
                Patients were randomly assigned to receive continuous insulin infusion to maintain intraoperative glucose levels between 4.4 (80 mg/dL) and 5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dL) (n = 199) or conventional treatment (n = 201). Patients in the conventional treatment group were not given insulin during surgery unless glucose levels were greater than 11.1 mmol/L (>200 mg/dL). Both groups were treated with insulin infusion to maintain normoglycemia after surgery.
                Mean glucose concentrations were statistically significantly lower in the intensive treatment group at the end of surgery (6.3 mmol/L [SD, 1.6] [114 mg/dL {SD, 29}] in the intensive treatment group vs. 8.7 mmol/L [SD, 2.3] [157 mg/dL {SD, 42}] in the conventional treatment group; difference, -2.4 mmol/L [95% CI, -2.8 to -1.9 mmol/L] [-43 mg/dL {CI, -50 to -35 mg/dL}]). Eighty two of 185 patients (44%) in the intensive treatment group and 86 of 186 patients (46%) in the conventional treatment group had an event (risk ratio, 1.0 [CI, 0.8 to 1.2]). More deaths (4 deaths vs. 0 deaths; P = 0.061) and strokes (8 strokes vs. 1 strokes; P = 0.020) occurred in the intensive treatment group. Length of stay in the intensive care unit (mean, 2 days [SD, 2] vs. 2 days [SD, 3]; difference, 0 days [CI, -1 to 1 days]) and in the hospital (mean, 8 days [SD, 4] vs. 8 days [SD, 5]; difference, 0 days [CI, -1 to 0 days]) was similar for both groups.
                This single-center study used a composite end point and could not examine whether outcomes differed by diabetes status.
                Intensive insulin therapy during cardiac surgery does not reduce perioperative death or morbidity. The increased incidence of death and stroke in the intensive treatment group raises concern about routine implementation of this intervention. Fifty-nine human immunodeficiency virus type-1-infected patients with a microscopically proven first episode of moderate to severe Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) were enrolled into a randomized European multicenter study. The effect of adjunctive corticosteroid (CS) therapy was assessed on (a) survival to discharge, (b) need for mechanical ventilation, and (c) survival at day 90. CS was given within 24 h of standard therapy as intravenous methylprednisolone 2 mg/kg body weight daily for 10 days. All patients received cotrimoxazole as standard treatment. Inclusion criteria were a PaO2 less than 9.0 kPa (67.5 mm Hg) and/or a PaCO2 less than 4.0 kPa (30.0 mm Hg) while breathing room air. During the acute episode of PCP, 9 (31%) of the 29 control patients died versus 3 (10%) of the 30 CS patients; p = 0.01. Mechanical ventilation was necessary in 15 patients; 12 (41%) in the control group and 3 (10%) in the CS group; p = 0.01. The 90-day survival was 69% in controls versus 87% in CS patients; p = 0.07. Based on these data we conclude that adjunctive CS therapy for moderate to severe PCP in AIDS patients reduces the acute mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation. A multicenter placebo-controlled trial of early short-term high-dose methylprednisolone enrolled 78 patients with moderate to severe Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) complicating HIV infection. The mean pressure of oxygen (PO2) at study entry was 55 mm Hg for the 71 patients who had blood gases monitored while breathing room air. Patients were randomized to receive methylprednisolone (40 mg) or placebo parenterally twice daily for 10 days, and the first dose of study medication was given within 24 h of the first dose of antimicrobial therapy for PCP. The primary end point included death, need for mechanical ventilation for > 6 days, or a partial PO2 < 70 mm Hg while breathing room air 10 days after initiation of treatment. There was no statistically significant difference in the primary end point between patients randomized to corticosteroid (CS) or placebo (PL) (p = 0.522; 95% CI = -0.30, 0.16). The incidence of superinfections during therapy or of other HIV-associated infections or malignancies in the 6 months following treatment for PCP was not significantly different between the two groups. More patients randomized to placebo had to discontinue treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole because of hypersensitivity than those randomized to corticosteroids (p = 0.039). We conclude that addition of corticosteroids does not significantly affect the outcome of PCP in patients with HIV and a PO2 < 70 mm Hg on room air at presentation but lowers the incidence of hypersensitivity reactions to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This study was to compare the effect of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) to conventional insulin therapy (CIT) on postoperative outcomes among type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients who underwent D2 gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
                We randomly assigned gastric cancer patients with type 2 DM who underwent radical gastrectomy to receive IIT (maintenance of blood glucose at a level between 4.4 and 6.1 mmol/l) with insulin infusion or CIT (maintenance of blood glucose at a level between 10 and 11.1 mmol/l) during the postoperative period.
                Of the 179 eligible patients, 92 patients were assigned to receive IIT and 87 patients to receive CIT. Mean blood glucose concentrations were lower in the intensive group (IG) than in the conventional group (CG) (5.5 ± 0.8 vs. 9.9 ± 1.0 mmol/l, P < 0.001). Hypoglycemia occurred in 6 patients (6.5%) in the IG (P = 0.029) versus in 1 patient (1.1%) in the CG. Hospital mortality did not differ significantly between two groups (4.3% vs. 5.7%, P = 0.742). However, IIT significantly reduced morbidity (from 18.4 to 7.6%, P = 0.031). Also, IIT shortened the days to suture removal, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative duration of antibiotic use. The HOMA-IR score was lower at all time points in IG. Moreover, IIT increased the postoperative HLA-DR expression on monocytes on postoperative days 3 and 5.
                IIT significantly reduced short-term morbidity but not mortality among type 2 DM patients who underwent D2 gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Furthermore, a possible mechanism of suppression of the insulin resistance and improvement of HLA-DR expression may partially explain the benefits of IIT. To evaluate glycemic control, hypoglycemic events, and quality of life in patients treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) and multiple daily insulin injection (MDI), with insulin lispro as the principal insulin.
                This clinical trial enrolled 27 patients with type 1 diabetes. They were randomly assigned to CSII (n = 13) or MDI (n = 14) treatment regimens. Glycemic control (HbA(1c) level) was the primary outcome and was measured monthly for 9 months. Secondary outcomes were patient reports of hypoglycemic events (recorded monthly for 9 months) and quality of life assessed at 9 months using the Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) questionnaire.
                A significant decrease in HbA(1c) from baseline was shown for both groups. However, the overall treatment effect (CSII - MDI) for HbA(1c) was +0.08% (95% CI -0.23 to +0.39, P > 0.10). This was significantly less than the a priori limit of +/-0.5% (P = 0.004). The relative treatment effect ([CSII - MDI]/MDI) for the overall number of hypoglycemic events was +9% (95% CI -37 to +87, P > 0.10). There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups for any of the DQOL subscales.
                No statistically significant differences in glycemic control, reported hypoglycemic events, or quality of life were found in this study. Furthermore, a clinically significant difference of more than +/-0.5% HbA(1c) between the two regimens can be confidently ruled out. We conclude that the choice of intensive insulin therapy should be a matter of patient preference, consistent with lifestyle.
Substantial evidence shows that intensive insulin therapy reduces the incidence of CIP/CIM, the duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of ICU stay and 180-day mortality. There was a significant associated increase in hypoglycaemia. Further research needs to identify the clinical impact of this and strategies need to be developed to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia. Limited evidence shows no significant effect of corticosteroids on the incidence of CIP/CIM, or on any of the other secondary outcome measures, except for a significant reduction of new episodes of shock. Strict diagnostic criteria for the purpose of research should be defined. Other interventions should be investigated in randomised controlled trials.