What is a potential risk of administering insulin when blood glucose is already low?

Administering insulin when blood glucose levels are already low poses a significant risk of causing a further decrease in blood glucose levels. Insulin is a hormone that facilitates the uptake of glucose by the body's cells, thus reducing the amount of glucose available in the bloodstream. When a patient already presents with hypoglycemia, delivering insulin can exacerbate the situation by lowering blood glucose levels even more, potentially leading to severe hypoglycemia. This condition can have serious consequences, including loss of consciousness, seizures, or even coma, and requires prompt intervention to restore safe glucose levels.

Other options, although they may contain some elements of truth regarding insulin and blood glucose management, do not accurately capture the direct consequence of administering insulin in the context of low blood glucose. For instance, while providing insulin does not typically induce hyperglycemia, it is the worsening of existing low glucose levels that poses the most immediate danger in this scenario.