Visual Abstract
Objective: During the COVID 19 pandemic, the FDA approved emergency authorization of Real Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring (RT-CGM) for inpatient use. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of RT-CGM use.
Methods: Blood Glucose (BG) data were collected from the electronic medical record and the Dexcom system on 165 patients treated on DEXCOM CGM from June to December using a preapproved protocol. Retrospective chart review was performed on 60 patients on vasopressors and dialysis. Analysis included glycemic control, hypoglycemia rate, and correlation between finger stick (FS) and RT-CGM BG. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (PCC) and MARD were calculated. Strong correlation was defined as a PCC value of > 0.7.
Results: Of the > 300,000 BG readings from DEXCOM, 81 % were between 70-180 mg/dl; 12 % between 180-250mg/dl; and 5% were > 250 mg/dl. The incidence of hypoglycemia was low, 0.8% values being between 55 - 69 mg/dL and 0.5% being < 55 mg/dL. Of the 2016 readings used for correlation, the PCC between FS and RT-CGM glucose was 0.838 with a MARD of 14%. PCC was 0.798 for patients on vasopressors and 0.79 for dialysis Patients.
Conclusions: In this preliminary study, Dexcom CGM utilization was safe with a low incidence of hypoglycemia and good correlation to FS blood glucose. CGM utilization decreased the frequency of FS for most patients, and was well accepted by the clinical team.
R. Joshi: None. V. M. Snell: None. K. L. Good: None. Y. Wert: None. A. M. Helmuth: None.
Dexcom, Inc.
