[Hypoglycemia in the neonatal period. The need for blood sugar control]

In order to evaluate the demand of blood glucose measurements (BG) in the neonatal period, a retrospective study of BG in 177 newborn babies was undertaken. Babies with birth weight less than 2,500 grams, gestational age (GA) less than 37 weeks, and/or a low birth weight in relation til gestational age were included in the study. Accordingly, the babies were grouped as appropriate for GA (AGA), small for gestational age (SGA), or large for GA (LGA). Neonatal hypoglycemia (NH), BG less than or equal to 1.4 mmol/l, was found in 33 babies. In 31 babies, NH occurred before 12 hours of age while six babies had recurrent NH. Correlation was seen between total number of clinical symptoms and NH, which was, as anticipated, commonest among preterm SGA-babies. The risk of subsequent NH in early fed low birth weight newborn seems to be very low, if NH has not appeared within the first 12 hours of life. After this time, serial blood glucose measurements only seem justified, if concomitant perinatal disease is present.