Nutritional Support in Hospitalized Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Inpatient diabetes management is becoming more important in recent years. Given the ever-increasing rates of diabetes incidence in the general population, it is no surprise that 20-30% of the patients admitted to the hospital have a diagnosis of diabetes. Therefore, the treatment of hyperglycemia is becoming a more important aspect of inpatient care. Although it has been shown that prevention of hyperglycemia reduces morbidity, mortality, and length of stay, optimal inpatient glycemic goals remain controversial.The comprehensive inpatient management of diabetes includes optimization of feeding, whether nutrition is administered enterally, parenterally, or as a combination of these two methods. This requires the physician to recognize the patient's clinical status, and take into account the different aspects of the patient's illness in order to properly provide the right composition of nutrition. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to select the right regimen of hypoglycemic agents in the prevention of hyperglycemia.