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Intraoperative Insulin Administration And Hypoglycemia In Diabetic Patients, Eric Schwenk, Md, Richard H. Epstein, Md, Cphims, Boris Mraovic

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

Introduction:

Although studies are conflicting as to the benefit of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) in the critically ill, there is a 6x increase in hypoglycemia incidence in patients treated with IIT.

Anesthesia masks signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia, making intraop hypoglycemia difficult to detect clinically.

We performed this retrospective, observational analysis to:

Determine the incidence of intraoperative hypoglycemia and severe hypoglycemia

Evaluate possible causes of hypoglycemia

Determine intraop monitoring and treatment practices of diabetic patients at a large academic hospital