Duration of Hypoglycemia and Need for Intravenous Glucose Following Intentional Overdoses of Insulin

The authors discuss their findings from 17 suicide attempts with insulin in 15 patients seen at Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre for the 10-year period 1971-1981. A suicidal insulin overdose was considered to be 100 units in a non-diabetic or twice the daily dose in a diabetic using insulin. Significant findings were high risk of similar future attempts; the attempt is commonly made during depression; duration of hypoglycemia may be longer than expected; hypokalemia is a frequent occurance. (NBB)