Sliding Scale Insulin Diabetes Care

Common sliding scale regimens.

Sliding scale insulin diabetes care.

Released september 4 2013. These earlier studies used urine glucose for sliding scale but with demonstration of inaccuracy of urine glucose 3 blood glucose replaced urine glucose for sliding scale in diabetic ketoacidosis 4. The practice of sliding scale insulin management persists even though it has been called a relic from the past that should be left in the medical history books 1 it remains a common practice in many health care settings. Sliding scale insulin therapy is one way a person with diabetes can work out how much insulin to take before a meal without causing negative effects on the body.

Long acting insulin glargine detemir or nph once or twice a day with short acting insulin aspart glulisine lispro regular before meals and at bedtime long acting insulin glargine detemir or. For example if a person has a blood sugar level between 201 250 mg dl they might receive 4 units of insulin and for a blood sugar level between 251 300 mg dl they could receive 6 units of insulin. In my experience the major deficit of sliding scale insulin is that it allows the house officer to write an arbitrary insulin regimen and leave the patient s diabetes management in the hands of floor nursing staff. Sliding scale regular insulin ssi in the management of patients with diabetes was the standard practice as early as 1934 and was also used in the hyperglycemic emergency diabetic ketoacidosis.

Sliding scale regular insulin ssi in the management of patients with diabetes was the standard practice as early as 1934 1 and was also used in the hyperglycemic emergency diabetic ketoacidosis 2. Simply put sliding scale insulin is an estimate of how much insulin needs to be provided for a given blood sugar level with the help of a predefined rubric. Afrezza must be used in combination with injectable long acting insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes and in type 2 patients who use long acting insulin. This is a prescription for hypoglycemia and recurrent diabetic ketoacidosis.

Updated august 10 2017 don t use sliding scale insulin ssi for long term diabetes management for individuals residing in the nursing home. Inhaled insulin begins working within 12 to 15 minutes peaks by 30 minutes and is out of your system in 180 minutes. It is a very useful tool when used in the right context and has been shown to improve outcomes.