Definition and monitoring of neonatal hypoglycaemia: a nationwide survey of NHS England Neonatal Units.

Neonatal hypoglycaemia is common; however, there is an ongoing controversy regarding its operational definition, with recent guidance from the Paediatric Endocrine Society (PES) recommending using significantly higher blood glucose thresholds and longer periods of monitoring than existing guidance.1 A 2014 survey of Australasian neonatal units identified that the most common clinical threshold for the treatment of hypoglycaemia was 2.6 mmol/L, and some units used potentially unreliable nearside blood glucose monitoring devices.2 The most recent published survey of British neonatologists showed wide variation in definitions of neonatal hypoglycaemia from <1 to <4 mmol/L.3 We surveyed neonatal units in England to assess current working practice on the definition and monitoring of neonatal hypoglycaemia. All …