Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026
Treating Surfaces with a Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma using the COST-Jet
Published on: November 2, 2020
Cost Analysis of Treating Neonatal Hypoglycemia with Dextrose Gel
Matthew J Glasgow1, Jane E Harding1, Richard Edlin2
1Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Insights
Buccal dextrose gel is a cost-effective treatment for neonatal hypoglycemia, reducing hospital costs by over NZ$1300 per infant. This noninvasive method offers significant savings compared to standard care.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Health economics
- Pediatric endocrinology
Background:
- Neonatal hypoglycemia is a common condition requiring prompt management.
- Standard care protocols for neonatal hypoglycemia can be resource-intensive.
- Evaluating cost-effectiveness of novel treatments is crucial for healthcare systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the costs of using dextrose gel versus standard care for neonatal hypoglycemia.
- To assess the economic impact of dextrose gel in the initial 48 hours post-birth.
- To determine the cost-saving potential of dextrose gel in neonatal intensive care.
Main Methods:
- A decision tree model was employed to analyze costs.
- Data from the Sugar Babies randomized trial were utilized.
- Sensitivity analyses explored variations in key cost factors.
Main Results:
- Dextrose gel treatment cost NZ$6863.81 per infant, compared to NZ$8178.25 for standard care (placebo).
- This represents a saving of NZ$1314.44 per infant treated with dextrose gel.
- Cost savings persisted across various sensitivity analyses.
Conclusions:
- Buccal dextrose gel significantly reduces hospital costs for managing neonatal hypoglycemia.
- The noninvasive, safe, and well-tolerated nature of dextrose gel supports its routine use.
- Dextrose gel is recommended as an initial treatment for neonatal hypoglycemia due to its economic and clinical benefits.
Objective:
To evaluate the costs of using dextrose gel as a primary treatment for neonatal hypoglycemia in the first 48 hours after birth compared with standard care.
Study Design:
We used a decision tree to model overall costs, including those specific to hypoglycemia monitoring and treatment and those related to the infant's length of stay in the postnatal ward or neonatal intensive care unit, comparing the use of dextrose gel for treatment of neonatal hypoglycemia with placebo, using data from the Sugar Babies randomized trial. Sensitivity analyses assessed the impact of dextrose gel cost, neonatal intensive care cost, cesarean delivery rate, and costs of glucose monitoring.
Results:
In the primary analysis, treating neonatal hypoglycemia using dextrose gel had an overall cost of NZ$6863.81 and standard care (placebo) cost NZ$8178.25; a saving of NZ$1314.44 per infant treated. Sensitivity analyses showed that dextrose gel remained cost saving with wide variations in dextrose gel costs, neonatal intensive care unit costs, cesarean delivery rates, and costs of monitoring.
Conclusions:
Use of buccal dextrose gel reduces hospital costs for management of neonatal hypoglycemia. Because it is also noninvasive, well tolerated, safe, and associated with improved breastfeeding, buccal dextrose gel should be routinely used for initial treatment of neonatal hypoglycemia.
Trial Registration:
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12608000623392.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:15Hypoglycemia and Glucagon
01:22Two-dimensional Gel Electrophoresis
The first dimension separation uses the isoelectric focusing or IEF technique performed on immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips that separate proteins according to their isoelectric points.
Biological samples, such...
02:35DNA Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
Gel extraction follows five major steps: running gel electrophoresis to separate fragments, isolating the individual bands, extracting DNA from those bands, and removing the dye and salts from the extracted mixture to obtain pure DNA.
In cloning experiments, both the insert and vector DNA...
01:10Silica Gel Column Chromatography: Overview
Polar components tend to bind strongly to the silica gel, causing them to move slowly through the column. In contrast, nonpolar compounds...
01:16Treating Helicobacter pylori in Peptic Ulcers: Antimicrobial Therapy
03:46Qualitative Analysis
For instance, group IV...