Continuous Glucose Monitoring Reveals Perioperative Hypoglycemia in Most Patients With Diabetes Undergoing Major Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the frequency and duration of hypo- and hyperglycemia, assessed by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) during and after major surgery, in departments with implemented diabetes care protocols.

Summary background data: Inadequate glycemic control in the perioperative period is associated with serious adverse events, but monitoring currently relies on point blood glucose measurements, which may underreport glucose excursions.

Methods: Adult patients without (A) or with diabetes [non-insulin-treated type 2 (B), insulin-treated type 2 (C) or type 1 (D)] undergoing major surgery were monitored using CGM (Dexcom G6), with an electrochemical sensor in the interstitial fluid, during surgery and for up to 10 days postoperatively. Patients and health care staff were blinded to CGM values, and glucose management adhered to the standard diabetes care protocol. Thirty-day postoperative serious adverse events were recorded. The primary outcome was duration of hypoglycemia (glucose <70 mg/dL). Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04473001.

Results: Seventy patients were included, with a median observation time of 4.0 days. CGM was recorded in median 96% of the observation time. The median daily duration of hypoglycemia was 2.5 minutes without significant difference between the 4 groups (A-D). Hypoglycemic events lasting ≥15 minutes occurred in 43% of all patients and 70% of patients with type 1 diabetes. Patients with type 1 diabetes spent a median of 40% of the monitoring time in the normoglycemic range 70 to 180 mg/dL and 27% in the hyperglycemic range >250 mg/dL. Duration of preceding hypo- and hyperglycemia tended to be longer in patients with serious adverse events, compared with patients without events, but these were exploratory analyses.

Conclusions: Significant duration of both hypo- and hyperglycemia was detected in high proportions of patients, particularly in patients with diabetes, despite protocolized perioperative diabetes management.