Objective: To institute intensive insulin therapy protocol in an acute pediatric burn unit and study the mechanisms underlying its benefits.
Design: Prospective, randomized study.
Setting: An acute pediatric burn unit in a tertiary teaching hospital.
Patients: Children, 4-18 yrs old, with total body surface area burned > or =40% and who arrived within 1 wk after injury were enrolled in the study.
Interventions: Patients were randomized to one of two groups. Intensive insulin therapy maintained blood glucose levels between 80 and 110 mg/dL. Conventional insulin therapy maintained blood glucose < or =215 mg/dL.
Measurements and main results: Twenty patients were included in the data analysis consisting of resting energy expenditure, whole body and liver insulin sensitivity, and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. Studies were performed at 7 days postburn (pretreatment) and at 21 days postburn (posttreatment). Resting energy expenditure significantly increased posttreatment (1476 +/- 124 to 1925 +/- 291 kcal/m(2) x day; p = .02) in conventional insulin therapy as compared with a decline in intensive insulin therapy. Glucose infusion rate was identical between groups before treatment (6.0 +/- 0.8 conventional insulin therapy vs. 6.8 +/- 0.9 mg/kg x min intensive insulin therapy; p = .5). Intensive insulin therapy displayed a significantly higher glucose clamp infusion rate posttreatment (9.1 +/- 1.3 intensive insulin therapy versus 4.8 +/- 0.6 mg/kg x min conventional insulin therapy, p = .005). Suppression of hepatic glucose release was significantly greater in the intensive insulin therapy after treatment compared with conventional insulin therapy (5.0 +/- 0.9 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.6 mg/kg x min; intensive insulin therapy vs. conventional insulin therapy; p = .03). States 3 and 4 mitochondrial oxidation of palmitate significantly improved in intensive insulin therapy (0.9 +/- 0.1 to 1.7 +/- 0.1 microm O(2)/CS/mg protein/min for state 3, p = .004; and 0.7 +/- 0.1 to 1.3 +/- 0.1 microm O(2)/CS/mg protein/min for state 4, p < .002), whereas conventional insulin therapy remained at the same level of activity (0.9 +/- 0.1 to 0.8 +/- 0.1 microm O(2)/CS/mg protein/min for state 3, p = .4; 0.6 +/- 0.03 to 0.7 +/- 0.1 microm O(2)/CS/mg protein/min, p = .6).
Conclusion: Controlling blood glucose levels < or =120 mg/dL using an intensive insulin therapy protocol improves insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial oxidative capacity while decreasing resting energy expenditure in severely burned children.