Drop that calculator! You can easily calculate the glucose infusion rate in your head, and should!

Abstract

When an infant requires oxygen, it is well established that knowledge of the FiO2 at which the target SpO2 is achieved is essential. By analogy, it is clinically, physiologically, and diagnostically important to determine at what glucose infusion rate (GIR) one achieves target glucose levels in infants and children with hypoglycemia or dysregulated glucose levels. When counter-regulation is impaired or an infant is unwell, glucose utilization needs must be met from exogenous sources (1,2). Knowing the carbohydrate or glucose content and rate of administration of these sources, enteral or intravenous, allows calculation of the minimal GIR that meets utilization, and allows quantification of the endogenous production deficit. Calculating the GIR in all infants requiring intravenous glucose for hypoglycemia management should be a standard of care. The problem addressed in this Practical Tips is the difficulty of calculating GIR at the bedside with the commonly used formula: ... Where: GIR is in mg/kg/min, D is dextrose concentration in g/dL, Dir is dextrose infusion rate in mL/h, and w is weight in kg.