Immediate metabolic response to a low dose of insulin in children presenting with diabetes.

Seventeen new cases of diabetes in childhood were given an initial mean dose of insulin of 0-29 unit/kg body weight by intramuscular injection (mean age of patient 7-4 years). This resulted in a fall in blood glucose over the first 2 hours at a mean rate of 88 mg/100 ml per hour. Over the same time the mean total blood ketones fell from 3-23 to 2-3 mmol; and plasma insulin levels rose from a mean of 6 muU/ml to a mean of 65 muU/ml. Thus, with this small initial dose of insulin the 2-hour plasma insulin values were within the range which in adults has been associated with a maximum fall in blood glucose concentration. Three children with established diabetes presenting with ketoacidosis were also treated with a small initial dose of intramuscular insulin, 0-1 unit/kg in 2 of the patients and 0-5 unit/kg in the third. In 2 during a period of rehydration before insulin was given, blood glucose fell at a rate of 100 mg/100 ml per hour. Over the 2 hours after the initial dose of insulin the mean rate of fall of blood glucose for all 3 patients was 73 mg/100 ml per hour. None of these children developed hypoglycaemia nor hypokalaemia during treatment. We conclude that an initial intramuscular injection of soluble insulin in the dose range of 0-1-0-5 units/kg body weight may be more appropriate and possibly safer for the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in children than the currently recommended larger doses divided between intravenous and intramuscular routes. Adequate rehydration must, however, remain the first priority in the management of such cases.