• Siew Hoon Lim, Siti Namira B A Wahab, Shin Yuh Ang, Ming Ming Teh, and Fazila Aloweni.
• J Emerg Nurs. 2023 Jan 1; 49 (1): 9910899-108.

IntroductionTreatment of hyperkalemia using intravenous insulin can result in severe hypoglycemia, but regular blood glucose monitoring is not standardized. This study aimed to (i) explore the demographics of adult patients receiving hyperkalemia treatment and (ii) identify the incidence rate of hypoglycemia and associated demographic or clinical characteristics.MethodsA descriptive design with prospective data collection was used. This study recruited 135 patients who received hyperkalemia treatment in the emergency department. Structured blood glucose monitoring was conducted at 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours after receiving intravenous insulin. Univariate analyses of association between demographic and clinical variables and hypoglycemia outcome were performed.ResultsThere were 31 hypoglycemic events, with 11.9%, 7.4%, 2.2%, and 1.5% occurring at the 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours after treatment. The logit regression showed no significantly increased risk of hypoglycemia in terms of the demographic and clinical variables.DiscussionThe variation in blood glucose response observed in this study combined with the high incidences of hypolycaemia indicated the need for frequent and longer duration of monitoring for patients who were being treated for hyperkalaemia with IDT.Copyright © 2022 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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