BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The relationship between altered blood glucose levels and perioperative complications in elderly patients undergoing surgeries are not known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between fasting blood glucose levels and perioperative morbimortality in elderly surgical patients. METHODS: Medical records of patients older than 60 years undergoing several surgical procedures during a 6-month period were analyzed and divided, according to fasting blood glucose levels, in three groups: < 100 mg.dL-1, between 100 and 125 mg.dL-1, and > 126 mg.dL-1. Age, physical status (ASA), history of diabetes mellitus (DM), and treatment and perioperative surgery-specific cardiologic risk were analyzed. Using univariate analysis and a model of multivariate logistic regression, the relationship among the outcome (frequency of postoperative complications [POC] and death) and the following variables: fasting blood glucose, history of DM, physical status (ASA), and cardiac risk, was evaluated. RESULTS: A statistical association was demonstrated only among the three groups and physical status and history of DM. All parameters studied demonstrated a statistical relationship regarding the higher frequency of POC and death, except for the parameter history of DM, which did not demonstrate any relationship with deaths. In the multivariate logistic regression model, there was an association between cardiac risk and blood glucose levels with POC, while only physical status and cardiac risk demonstrated a statistical association with death. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study demonstrated a significant association among blood glucose levels above 100 mg.dL-1 and postoperative morbimortality in the elderly.
COMPLEMENTARY LABORATORY TESTS; COMPLICATIONS; DISEASES; SURGERY, Geriatric
