It is highly unlikely that hypoglycemia will proceed to the stage of coma. But just in case this should happen, and the patient is unable to swallow sugar water, there needs to be a way to get sugar into the bloodstream quickly. In the standard method, this is easy because an intravenous line is already installed. But in a remote area with personnel who are not trained to find a vein, an alternative method is needed. Oral administration to a comatose patient risks choking.
Intraperitoneal injection is one possibility.
But I have an idea for an easier, less invasive method. A small sterilized enema bottle can be kept handy for such a rare emergency. My hypothesis is that the rectal and colonic mucosa can actively absorb sugar. This may be known, or it would be easy to test. Copyright 1999-2001 by Chris Duffield, Ph.D. All rights reserved.