The oral sulfonylurea glyburide should not be considered as a first-line treatment for gestational diabetes, new research suggests. Results from the first randomized trial to compare neonatal outcomes of women with gestational diabetes treated with oral glyburide versus subcutaneous insulin were published online May 1 in JAMA, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hôpital Bicêtre, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France, and colleagues.
The authors also point out that the results suggest the increase in perinatal complications with glyburide — macrosomia, neonatal hypoglycemia, and hyperbilirubinemia — may be no more than 10.5% compared with insulin, and that the risk should be balanced with ease of use and patient satisfaction with glyburide."In clinical situations in which an oral agent may be necessary, mothers, informed by their physicians, would be appropriate decision makers based on…
