Introduction
Hyperglycemia is common in critically ill patients and is a modifiable
risk factor that increases morbidity and mortality [1-4]. For many
years, optimal treatment of hyperglycemia has been discussed in
intensive care units [5]. The American Clinical Endocrinologists
Association and the American Diabetes Association recommend keeping
glucose levels between 140-180 mg/dL for glycemic control in critically
ill patients [6,7]. In critically ill patients, continuous iv
insulin infusion has been shown to be the best route to achieve glycemic
targets and prevent glycemic fluctuations [7]. Clinical application
of insulin infusion therapy is usually accomplished with regular human
insulin [2,8]. It is known that the regular insulin adsorbed to the
surfaces of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bags and infusion sets, which are
generally used in hospitals, and not to the polypropylene (PP) surfaces.
However, there are different data about the adsorption rates in the
literature [9-16]. Therefore different approaches were implemented
into the clinical practices, such as changing the bag every 4 or 12
hours, to minimize the adsorption of insulin to the bag during the
infusion [17-19].
In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the rate of adhesion of insulin
solutions to PP bags and PVC infusion sets and stability times at room
temperature (+24° C) during the infusion.