Inadequate glycemic control in patients receiving parenteral nutrition lowers survival: A retrospective observational trial

Background & aims: Parenteral Nutrition (PN) has been shown to cause glycemic deregulation, whether patients have type 2 diabetes (T2DM) or not, causing elevated mortality, despite intensive insulin treatment. Long-term effects, however, are unclear. Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed. 226 patients of the UZ Brussel, both T2DM patients and non-diabetics, who received PN in 2013 or 2014, were analyzed on the presence of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, as well as mortality in-hospital and after 6 months. Results: Here we show that T2DM patients displaying either hyper- or hypoglycemia, had a significant higher mortality. This was the case both in-hospital and after 6 months. Non-diabetics undergoing hyperglycemia had a similar fate, but not when these patients had hypoglycemic events. Conclusion: Whether PN-receiving patients had T2DM or were non-diabetic, hyperglycemia was related to mortality, both in-hospital and after 6 months, whereas hypoglycemia was only related to mortality in T2DM patients.