The Influence of Insulin Therapy on the Course of Acute Exacerbation of Bronchial Asthma.

Large doses of systemic corticosteroids are the basis of treatment of acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma. The hyperglycemic activity of systemic corticosteroids often leads to the loss of control of diabetes diagnosed earlier or to its first diagnosis during treatment of the exacerbation of asthma. We conducted a prospective, randomized study in a group of 24 adult patients treated for asthma exacerbation, with the blood glucose level at admission above 8.4 mmol/l. The patients were randomly divided into a group treated with intravenous insulin infusion by an electric syringe pump in doses controlling glycemia at 4.5-7.2 mmol/l (Group A) and a group of patients treated with insulin administered subcutaneously in three doses controlling glycemia at 7.2-10.0 mmol/l (Group B). A control group (Group C) consisted of patients without any disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism, treated for exacerbation of asthma. Asthma exacerbation was treated in all groups in a uniform way. We found that the average hospitalization time was 8.2 ± 2.4 days in Group A, 10.2 ± 5.2 days in Group B, and 5.8 ± 1.9 days in Group C; the last being significantly shorter than those in Groups A and B. We conclude that hyperglycemia is a significant factor increasing the risk of extending hospitalization time due to asthma exacerbation, regardless of the way of insulin therapy.