Retrospective analysis of the real-world use of the threshold suspend feature of sensor-augmented insulin pumps.

Background: The automatic Threshold Suspend (TS) feature of the MiniMed 530G system (Medtronic MiniMed, Inc., Northridge, CA), when enabled, suspends insulin delivery for up to 2 h when the sensor glucose (SG) value reaches a preset threshold. Materials and Methods: SG data from 20,973 patients who enabled the TS feature at their discretion and uploaded pump and sensor data to CareLink((R)) (Medtronic MiniMed, Inc.) from October 15, 2013 to July 21, 2014 were analyzed. Comparisons between 758,382 patient-days wherein the TS feature was enabled at any time and 166,791 patient-days in which it was not enabled were made. Further comparisons were made between data collected during daytime (8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) and nighttime (10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.) hours. Data from subsets of patients who enabled the TS feature all of the time (n=14,673) versus those who never enabled the TS feature (n=2,249) were also compared. Recovery from hypoglycemia during and after 2-h pump suspension events was also assessed. Results: The TS feature was enabled on 82% of patient-days. Patient-days in which the TS feature was enabled, compared with patient-days in which it was not, had 69% fewer SG values <= 50 mg/dL (0.64% vs. 2.09%, respectively; P<0.001). The reduction in hypoglycemia seen on TS-enabled days was more pronounced during nighttime than during daytime hours. SG data from full-time users of the TS feature reflected a 62% reduction in values <= 50 mg/dL and a 5.6% reduction in values >= 300 mg/dL compared with data from nonusers (P<0.001 for each). The median SG value at the start of 2-h suspensions was 60 (interquartile range [IQR], 57-66) mg/dL, immediately after was 87 (IQR, 63-123) mg/dL, and 4 h later was 164 (IQR, 117-220) mg/dL. Conclusions: The TS feature, when enabled consistently, reduced hypoglycemic exposure, and for those who had it enabled 100% of the time, hyperglycemia was also reduced.