Continuous glucose monitoring versus conventional glucose monitoring in the ICU: A randomized controlled trial

This study evaluated the clinical utility of continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) in critically ill patients. In this randomized controlled trial, we randomly assigned critically ill participants with diabetes or stress-induced hyperglycemia to the CGMS group (n = 48) or to the conventional point-of-care monitoring (POCM) group (n = 48). The glucose values and clinical outcome were compared between the two group. The primary endpoint was 28-day mortality after intensive care unit admission. The 28-day mortality was not significantly different between the CGMS and POCM group (20.8% vs 31.3%, P = 0.25). The mean glucose, time-weighted average glucose, glucose standard deviation and time in range (3.9–10.0) were significantly improved in the CGMS group (all P < 0.05). Compared with conventional POCM, CGMS did not decrease the 28-day mortality in critically ill participants with diabetes or stress-induced hyperglycemia. But CGMS may improve the glycemic control and may be increasingly used in critically ill patients.