Management of hyperglycemia in the hospital setting

A 53-year-old woman with asthma and multilobar pneumonia is admitted with respiratory failure. She is intubated and treated with antibiotics, albuterol, and methylprednisolone. A random blood glucose measurement obtained on admission shows a level of 183 mg per deciliter (10.2 mmol per liter). After 3 hours in the intensive care unit, she has a capillary glucose level of 264 mg per deciliter (14.7 mmol per liter). She has no history of diabetes. Should her hyperglycemia be treated, and if so, how? Copyright © 2006 Massachusetts Medical Society.