A recent article published in ‘Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics’ on the extended results of RELIEF study has reported that consistent use of FSL reduces the rates of hospitalization for ADEs, mainly Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), two years after initiation.

The RELIEF study included 31,446 patients with type 1 diabetes and 41,027 patients with type 2 diabetes with a first delivery of FreeStyle Libre (FSL). Hospitalizations for DKA, severe hypoglycemia, diabetes-related coma, and hyperglycemia were recorded for the 12 months before and 24 months after FSL initiation. Persistence of the FSL system use was estimated through a Kaplan–Meier survival curve. Change in usual blood glucose monitoring was estimated through acquisition of blood glucose test strips.

The study results showed that 2 years after FSL initiation, hospitalizations for ADEs were reduced by 49% and by 48% in patients with type 1 diabetes and patients with type 2 diabetes, respectively, driven by reductions in DKA. After 2 years, 88% of patients persisted with the system and estimated mean consumption of blood glucose test strips had fallen after 2 years by −82% and by −84% in type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus, respectively.

According to the researchers, the follow-up study to the original RELIEF analysis confirms over an extended 24-month period that use of the FSL system is associated with reduced rates of hospitalization for ADEs, mainly DKA, both in T1DM and in T2DM.