Trialogue: managing hyperglycemia in internal medicine: instructions for use

Hyperglycaemic patients admitted to hospital have worse clinical outcomes with higher operational costs than normoglycaemic patients. Identifying, defining and treating hyperglycaemia promptly and appropriately is essential during hospitalisation; adequate 'continuity of care' must be assured after discharge. This requires a multidisciplinary clinical collaboration between the internist and the diabetes team, which plays a central role in the treatment course and should be involved soon after patient admission to the hospital. This document aims to establish guidelines and recommendations for good clinical practice in managing hyperglycaemic internal medicine patients, with or without previous diagnosis of diabetes. The Associazione Medici Diabetologi (AMD), Federazione delle Associazioni dei Dirigenti Ospedalieri Internisti (FADOI) and Società Italiana di Diabetologia (SID) have decided to publish a document useful for internists in the management of hospitalised patients with hyperglycaemia. The Trialogue project, coordinated by a Board of Scientific Experts from the three scientific societies, was initiated for this purpose. A questionnaire consisting of 16 multiple choice questions on the management of hyperglycaemia in hospital was answered by 660 physicians from over 250 Internal Medicine units distributed throughout Italy. Analysis of responses has yielded an overview of routine clinical practice and provided a wealth of ideas to better identify critical points in the treatment of hospitalised patients with hyperglycaemia. These recommendations were developed with the aim of providing mutually agreed practical guidance (instructions for use) that can be readily applied by healthcare professionals in routine clinical practice.