Acute severe illness in diabetes patients: is tolerating hyperglycemia beneficial?

Due to the severe stress evoked by major surgery, a major trauma or a severe medical illness, critically ill patients commonly develop hyperglycemia. Repeatedly, in divergent patient populations and in both critically ill adults and children, observational studies have shown a U-shaped association between glycemic levels in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the risk of death, with the lowest risk of death associated with glucose levels that are normal for age (1,2).