Precision xceed pro point of care system

Preterm infants <32 weeks had glucose levels measured upon admission to the NICU and at least every 12 hours for 48 hours, and then following changes in fluid management until they reached full feeds, after which testing frequency decreased to once per day for 7 to 14 days. Blood glucose levels were measured using the Precision Xceed Pro Point of Care System (Abbott Diagnostics, Lake Forest, IL). Although point of care testing is not as accurate as laboratory testing at low levels, it is the standard of care in our NICU, as the turn-around-time of laboratory assessment of glucose does not allow timely response and adjustment of IV fluids. If hypoglycemia was noted, glucose was measured more frequently. Hypoglycemia was defined as point-of-care blood glucose <40 mg/dl. At the time of this study, a glucose value of 40 mg/dL was that used by our NICU to identify hypoglycemia that required intervention. For each infant, we dichotomized neonate hypoglycemia as “ever having hypoglycemia during the NICU stay” or “never having hypoglycemia during the NICU stay”.