Impact of insulin adsorption in various container during hyperkalemia treatment
Abstract Background The insulin-glucose therapy in hyperkalemia treatment had a narrow therapeutic index for a safe and efficient use. We assess the variability of the effective delivered insulin under conditions used in the setting of hyperkalemia treatment. Methods A range of simulated insulin infusions was studied using different containers (bag or syringes) according of the different hyperkalemia treatment procedures of our institution. Insulin concentration was assayed using a chromatographic method on an automatic high-performance liquid chromatography. We calculated the effective delivered insulin and compared the time-average of percentage delivered insulin (TAdi) between all the procedures. Results The TAdi is significantly decreased to 63.3% of the expected insulin delivery in the polyurethane (PE) bag compared to allover container. The procedure duration and the insulin concentration influenced the variability of the insulin delivery in the PE and glass (G) bag. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bag have the highest TAdi at 93.8% without significant variation during the time. TAdi reach around 90% of the expected insulin with all the syringe procedure without variation according the solute used to dilute insulin. Conclusions Clinically significant variations in intravenous insulin delivery occur in the setting of hyperkalemia treatment according to the container. The use of propylene syringe limits the insulin delivery variation. In the future, clinical studies on hyperkalemia treatment by insulin-glucose therapy should detailed the procedure precisely.