Critical Illness
Conditions
Keywords
critical illness, intensive care, insulin, glucose, algorithm, blood glucose control
Brief summary
The LOGIC-Insulin computerized software algorithm will be compared with a nurse-directed protocol, both targeting a blood glucose level of 80-110 mg/dL, in critically ill patients
Detailed description
Critical illness typically causes elevated blood glucose concentrations, which have been associated with increased mortality. Strictly normalizing these blood glucose levels by intensive insulin therapy, called tight glycemic control, decreased morbidity and mortality in well-controlled single-center clinical studies. However, multi-center pragmatic trials failed to reproduce those effects, proving that the implementation of tight glycemic control in daily clinical practice is rather difficult. A computerized algorithm, amongst others, may help the nurses in the titration of insulin to reach normal blood glucose levels and to avoid the particularly worrisome hypoglycemia. The LOGIC-1 study is a single blinded randomized controlled trial. On admission patients will be randomly assigned to either tight glycemic control (80-110 mg/dL) by the computerized LOGIC-Insulin 3.0 algorithm or to tight glycemic control (80-110 mg/dL) by the nurse-directed protocol. Written informed consent will be asked from the patient in the case of elective surgery requiring post-operative ICU-admission. Proxy informed consent from the closest family member will be asked when the patient was admitted to the ICU in emergency. As blood glucose control by itself is essential in the management of critical illness, random allocation will be done on admission and written informed consent from the closest family member can be deferred to a maximum of 24 hours after randomization. The patient or family member can at all times withdraw from the trial without impact on his treatment. Allocation will be done in blocks (block size is unknown to the care givers responsible for treatment allocation), stratified into cardiac surgery and other reasons for ICU admission, by central computer randomization. The time window for the study will be 14 days starting from admission to the ICU or when one of the following stop criteria will be met: * Withdrawal of the informed consent * Patient starts eating or drinking sugar containing liquids * Patient is discharged from the ICU (including ICU deaths) * Removal of arterial line or central venous line Under the following conditions the study investigator/treating physician will be contacted and, if necessary, patients will be switched from LOGIC-Insulin to nurse-directed blood glucose control: * Recurrent severe hypoglycemia (\<40 mg/dL) * Refractory hyperglycemia * Any change in condition that compromises the safety of the patient, as judged by the investigator or treating physician The common strategy for blood glucose control in both groups involves blood glucose measurements from arterial blood by a blood gas analyzer and the administration of insulin through a central line with a syringe pump.
Interventions
Nurse directed insulin titration to establish glycemic control in the target range of 80-110 mg/dL
Blood glucose control (80-110 mg/dL) guided by the LOGIC-Insulin algorithm
Sponsors
Study design
Intervention model description
Algorithm-guided versus Nurse directed Blood Glucose Control
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
* Aged 18 years or more * Admitted to the ICU * Already receiving or needing insulin infusion for blood glucose control
Exclusion criteria
* Not critically ill (eating, not mechanically ventilated) * Pregnant or breastfeeding * Previous inclusion into the trial * Included in other trial * Moribund * Diabetes coma * No arterial line available
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Glycemic Penalty Index (GPI) During the Intervention | The GPI is the average of all penalties that are individually assigned to all blood glucose values obtained up to 14 days post-randomization, based on an optimized smooth penalty function. | The GPI is an index (ranging from 0 to 100) derived from the blood glucose values that are outside the target level of 80-110 mg/dL, in both the hyperglycemic and the hypoglycemic ranges. The weight of the penalty score of a blood glucose measurement is proportional to the level of deviation from normoglycemia. The GPI is the average of all penalties that are individually assigned to all blood glucose values, based on an optimized smooth penalty function. Higher GPI scores indicate lower efficacy of glycemic control. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Incidence of Severe Hypoglycemia (<40 mg/dL) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Number of severe hypoglycemic values as a fraction of all blood glucose measurements during the intervention |
| Blood Glucose Level Per Treatment Group During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | — |
| Hyperglycemic Index (HGI) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Adequacy of reaching and maintaining the target range for blood glucose during the intervention |
| Daily Maximal Blood Glucose Difference During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Marker of blood glucose variability |
| Proportion of Patients With Common Hypoglycemia (<60 mg/dL) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Proportion of patients to have had one or more episodes of common hypoglycemia during the intervention |
| Proportion of Patients With Severe Hypoglycemia (<40 mg/dL) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Proportion of patients to have had one or more episodes of severe hypoglycemia (\<40 mg/dL) during the intervention |
| Percentage of Time in Target Zone (80-110 mg/dL) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Adequacy of reaching and maintaining the target range for blood glucose during the intervention |
| Length of Stay in ICU | up to 90 days post-randomization | — |
| Length of Stay in Hospital | up to 90 days post-randomization | — |
| Hospital Mortality | up to 90 days post-randomization | Patients who will have been discharged from hospital before 90 days post-randomization will be regarded as survivors |
| Incidence of Common Hypoglycemia (<60 mg/dL) During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Number of common hypoglycemic values as a fraction of all blood glucose measurements during the intervention |
| Interval Between Blood Glucose Measurements During the Intervention | up to 14 days post-randomization | Marker of workload |
Countries
Belgium
Participant flow
Recruitment details
Patients were recruited from 22 August 2011 to 16 December 2011 in a 56-bed ICU of a tertiary referral university hospital
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| LOGIC-Insulin Blood glucose control (80-110 mg/dL) guided by the LOGIC-Insulin algorithm | 149 |
| Nurse-directed Nurse-directed blood glucose control (80-110 mg/dL) | 151 |
| Total | 300 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Total | LOGIC-Insulin | Nurse-directed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admission type After cardiac surgery | 150 Participants | 76 Participants | 74 Participants |
| Admission type Medical | 49 Participants | 26 Participants | 23 Participants |
| Admission type Other surgery | 57 Participants | 28 Participants | 29 Participants |
| Admission type Transplantation | 44 Participants | 19 Participants | 25 Participants |
| Age, Continuous | 63 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 15 | 65 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 15 | 62 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 14 |
| Apache II score (mean SD) | 23 units on a scale STANDARD_DEVIATION 11 | 23 units on a scale STANDARD_DEVIATION 10 | 24 units on a scale STANDARD_DEVIATION 10 |
| BMI (kg/m²) | 26.2 kg/m² STANDARD_DEVIATION 5.2 | 26.5 kg/m² STANDARD_DEVIATION 5.5 | 25.9 kg/m² STANDARD_DEVIATION 4.8 |
| Diabetes | 64 Participants | 32 Participants | 32 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment Belgium | 300 participants | 149 participants | 151 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 119 Participants | 61 Participants | 58 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 181 Participants | 88 Participants | 93 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 19 / 149 | 10 / 151 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 149 | 0 / 151 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 149 | 0 / 151 |
Outcome results
Glycemic Penalty Index (GPI) During the Intervention
The GPI is an index (ranging from 0 to 100) derived from the blood glucose values that are outside the target level of 80-110 mg/dL, in both the hyperglycemic and the hypoglycemic ranges. The weight of the penalty score of a blood glucose measurement is proportional to the level of deviation from normoglycemia. The GPI is the average of all penalties that are individually assigned to all blood glucose values, based on an optimized smooth penalty function. Higher GPI scores indicate lower efficacy of glycemic control.
Time frame: The GPI is the average of all penalties that are individually assigned to all blood glucose values obtained up to 14 days post-randomization, based on an optimized smooth penalty function.
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEDIAN) |
|---|---|---|
| LOGIC-Insulin | Glycemic Penalty Index (GPI) During the Intervention | 9.8 units on a scale |
| Nurse-directed | Glycemic Penalty Index (GPI) During the Intervention | 12.4 units on a scale |
Blood Glucose Level Per Treatment Group During the Intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Daily Maximal Blood Glucose Difference During the Intervention
Marker of blood glucose variability
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Hospital Mortality
Patients who will have been discharged from hospital before 90 days post-randomization will be regarded as survivors
Time frame: up to 90 days post-randomization
Hyperglycemic Index (HGI) During the Intervention
Adequacy of reaching and maintaining the target range for blood glucose during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Incidence of Common Hypoglycemia (<60 mg/dL) During the Intervention
Number of common hypoglycemic values as a fraction of all blood glucose measurements during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Incidence of Severe Hypoglycemia (<40 mg/dL) During the Intervention
Number of severe hypoglycemic values as a fraction of all blood glucose measurements during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Interval Between Blood Glucose Measurements During the Intervention
Marker of workload
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Length of Stay in Hospital
Time frame: up to 90 days post-randomization
Length of Stay in ICU
Time frame: up to 90 days post-randomization
Percentage of Time in Target Zone (80-110 mg/dL) During the Intervention
Adequacy of reaching and maintaining the target range for blood glucose during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Proportion of Patients With Common Hypoglycemia (<60 mg/dL) During the Intervention
Proportion of patients to have had one or more episodes of common hypoglycemia during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization
Proportion of Patients With Severe Hypoglycemia (<40 mg/dL) During the Intervention
Proportion of patients to have had one or more episodes of severe hypoglycemia (\<40 mg/dL) during the intervention
Time frame: up to 14 days post-randomization