Iatrogenic

Iatrogenic causes usually involve too-rapid IV infusions of dextrose during the first few days of life in very low-birth-weight infants (lt; 1.5 kg).
The other important cause is physiologic stress caused by surgery, hypoxia, respiratory distress syndrome, or sepsis; fungal sepsis poses a special risk. In premature infants, partially defective processing of proinsulin to insulin and relative insulin resistance may cause hyperglycemia. In addition, transient neonatal diabetes mellitus is a rare self-limited cause that usually occurs in small-for-gestational-age infants; corticosteroid therapy may also result in transient hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is less common than hypoglycemia, but it is important because it increases morbidity and mortality of the underlying causes.