Drinking D50

[ptemt]

First off, I did use the search feature and quickly found that "drinking" is found in numerous threads unrelated to my question.

For a patient with BGL < 40, able to follow commands and swallow, currently without venous access, which will boost blood sugar levels quicker, oral glucose or drinking an ampule of D50?

Thanks

In

Advance

[JCicco345]

I'm guessing you cannot drink D50, since if it infiltrates that is bad, causes tissue necrosis. So if it is above 40 and they are conscious and have patent airway give them the oral glucose.

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

The D50 brought the pt's BGL up quickly, but not by very much and it never got past a certain level. The pt had something going on with his meds though. I haven't given D50 orally to pts very much, so I haven't noticed a big difference between the two. Maybe you could search the web for research on it.

[akroeze]

How much sugar is in D50? 25g right?

The tube of glucose we have on our trucks contains roughly 30g of glucose.

So in theory you're getting a higher dose with the tube of gel as opposed to d50. Since both are absorbed the same way I would think the onset would be the same

[AZCEP]

I'm guessing you cannot drink D50, since if it infiltrates that is bad, causes tissue necrosis. So if it is above 40 and they are conscious and have patent airway give them the oral glucose.

You've obviously never ingested corn syrup, which measures out to roughly D98.

D50 taken orally will not cause tissue necrosis. It will increase their blood glucose level, but there would be a number of better ways to accomplish it if available. Just for flavor, grape or apple juice will do just as good a job. Orange juice is absorbed more slowly due to the acidity of the solution, so don't use it if you don't have to. Also, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT add sugar to O.J. It won't speed up the process, and tastes horrible.

Pizza does the best job of raising and maintaining a blood glucose level. Particularly one that has more than just cheese and sauce on it. If the patient can follow commands, go this route.

[AZCEP]

I'm guessing you cannot drink D50, since if it infiltrates that is bad, causes tissue necrosis. So if it is above 40 and they are conscious and have patent airway give them the oral glucose.

You've obviously never ingested corn syrup, which measures out to roughly D98.

D50 taken orally will not cause tissue necrosis. It will increase their blood glucose level, but there would be a number of better ways to accomplish it if available. Just for flavor, grape or apple juice will do just as good a job. Orange juice is absorbed more slowly due to the acidity of the solution, so don't use it if you don't have to. Also, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT add sugar to O.J. It won't speed up the process, and tastes horrible.

Pizza does the best job of raising and maintaining a blood glucose level. Particularly one that has more than just cheese and sauce on it. If the patient can follow commands, go this route.

[Yummymedic05]

Never heard about the pizza, nice idea! I feel that if someone is awake enough to drink, I'm not going to have them drink D50! From what I gather it doesn't taste very well....

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

I agree that drinking the D50 should be a last resort. I know with the pt we treated, we didn't have access to anything else, so we just worked with what we had.

[Ridryder 911]

Drinking D50W is an old method, that I have seen in the past. I personally prefer any high carbohydrate and if possible high protein. Pizza, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich with milk appears to last a while in the system. The high carb and protein will allow the patient time to adjust and monitor the glucose level.

R/r 911

[ERDoc]

White rice is a good glucose load too.