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The impact of implementation of oral dextrose gel on the incidence of multiple hypoglycemia events in the well newborn nursery

Journal of Perinatology volume 44, pages 1635–1639 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Evaluate the impact of 40% oral dextrose gel (DG) for management of neonatal hypoglycemia (NH) on the incidence of multiple hypoglycemic events in the well-baby nursery.

Study design

A retrospective chart review of 738 at-risk infants in 2 cohorts before (Cohort 1) and after (Cohort 2) DG implementation. Primary outcome was the incidence of ≥2 hypoglycemic episodes. Secondary outcomes were number of lowest median glucose level, and incidence of NICU admission.

Results

There were 384 and 354 at-risk newborns in Cohorts 1 & 2. The incidence of developing ≥2 hypoglycemia episodes significantly decreased following DG implementation [62(42.5%) vs 29(25.9%), p = 0.0058]. There were no differences in lowest glucose level [37 (14–45) vs 37 (10–45), p = 0.31], and NICU admission rate [31 (21.2%) vs 21 (18.8%), p = 0.62].

Conclusions

Implementation of DG lowers the incidence of subsequent hypoglycemia episodes.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the research volunteers who contributed to our study: Safa Maknojia, Insha Ali, Valeria Guillen, Lorenzo Argao and Harini Shanmugam.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Lakshmy Vaidyanathan, Yingchao Yuan & Alan Groves

  2. Pediatrix, Sunrise, FL, USA

    Lakshmy Vaidyanathan, Davika Reid & Alan Groves

Authors
  1. Lakshmy Vaidyanathan
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  2. Davika Reid
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  3. Yingchao Yuan
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  4. Alan Groves
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Contributions

Study conceptualization: LV. Study design: LV, DR, AG. Data collection: LV, DR. Data analysis: LV, YY, AG. Manuscript writing: LV, DR, YY, AG. All authors gave final approval of the version to be published. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lakshmy Vaidyanathan.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Vaidyanathan, L., Reid, D., Yuan, Y. et al. The impact of implementation of oral dextrose gel on the incidence of multiple hypoglycemia events in the well newborn nursery. J Perinatol 44, 1635–1639 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02032-z

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