Hypoglycaemia is a biochemical description (Fig. 20.1). Hypoglycaemia results when glucose outflow from the glucose pool is not balanced by glucose inflow from the liver. It most commonly arises from impaired hepatic glucose release under the influence of modest amounts of insulin.
Most cases of hypoglycaemia are iatrogenic and result from pharmacologically large doses of exogenous insulin, or from drug-induced endogenous insulin secretion, reducing inflow of glucose from the liver to below its rate of outflow into the tissues.
