Therapeutic effect of insulin in reduction of critical illness polyneuropathy and Myopathy in pediatric intensive care unit

Objective Hyperglycemia may occur in the patients affected by any kind of critical illness.This complication makes an adverse effect on the clinical outcome of thesepatients by causing polyneuropathy and myopathy. It has been recently shownthat treatment of hyperglycemia with insulin administration significantly reducesthe prevalence of critical illness polyneuropathy and myopathy (CIPNM) andon the other hand reduces the demand for long-term mechanical ventilation inthe patients admitted to the ICU for more than 1 week. The aim of this studywas to determine the therapeutic effect of insulin in reducing the incidence ofCIPNM in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Materials & Methods In this study, we recruited 30 patients admitted to the PICU of Tabriz PediatricHospital. The incidence of CIPNM following hyperglycemia was evaluated inthese patients. The patients were categorized into two groups. In the case group,blood sugar was controlled in the range of 140-180mg/dl by administration of0.05 unit per kilogram body weight of insulin as drip protocol in an hour and inthe control group, placebo was used. Consequently, the incidence of CIPNM,duration of PICU and duration of mechanical ventilation were comparedbetween the two groups. Results The incidence of CIPNM and duration of PICU stay and mechanical ventilationwere significantly reduced in the patients treated with insulin compared to thecontrol group. Conclusion This study shows that blood sugar control decreases the incidence of CIPNM.