The Prevalence of Hyperglycemia in Surgical Patients With Pre-diabetes
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Prediabetes or Diabetes, Surgery Complications, Non-Cardiac/ Non-Thoracic Surgery, Stress Hyperglycemia. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Canada
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
The goal of this study is to measure the prevalence and risks of hyperglycemia in surgical patients with prediabetes. The main questions it aims to answer are: * What is the prevalence of hyperglycemia in surgical patients with prediabetes? * What is the relative risk of postoperative complications associated with hyperglycemia? To answer these questions, surgical patients with prediabetes will undergo universal glucose measurement in the perioperative period. Glucose data will be analyzed in conjunction with electronic health record (EHR) data describing patient outcomes.
Detailed description
Background
Day-of-surgery and postoperative ('perioperative') hyperglycemia are modifiable risk factors for complications after non-cardiac surgery, including surgical site infections, 30-day readmissions, and mortality. Data from Alberta suggests perioperative hyperglycemia is common among people without diabetes, affecting about 13% of people with prediabetes on the day-of-surgery and 18% of people without diabetes after surgery. Paradoxically, the risks of perioperative hyperglycemia appear to be two-times greater for people with prediabetes than for people with diabetes and the reasons for this are unknown. Current estimates of the prevalence of perioperative for people with prediabetes are limited. Understanding the true prevalence would inform individual decision-making around surgery, the need for further research about the true association of hyperglycemia and adverse outcomes, and clinical decisions about the utility of measuring glucose for all people with prediabetes around the time of surgery.
Objectives
This prospective cohort study will establish the prevalence of perioperativehyperglycemia in people with prediabetes undergoing scheduled (elective and urgent) non-cardiac surgeries. This information will inform:
1. Patients, to better understand their individual risks of elective surgery. 2. Clinicians, on the need for perioperative glucose measurement for patients with prediabetes. 3. Researchers, on the need for and design of further studies.
Methods Overview
We will measure glucose in all adult patients with prediabetes undergoing scheduled (elective and urgent) non-cardiac surgeries throughout the perioperative period (referring to the day of surgery and up to the first 3 postoperative days or discharge, whichever comes first) to determine the prevalence of perioperative dysglycemia in people with prediabetes.
This project will leverage established data sources and linkages to address secondary and exploratory objectives: (1) Use in-hospital insulin prescribing data to describe current practices for treatment of perioperative hyperglycemia in people with prediabetes; (2) Explore the association between clinical outcomes like infections and length of stay with perioperative hyperglycemia in people with prediabetes; and (3) Compare the prevalence of perioperative hyperglycemia and the association of hyperglycemia with clinical outcomes between the intervention period and a historical control period (pre-intervention at the same hospital) and a contemporaneous, non-intervention site (UAH, Edmonton) to examine whether the 'prediabetes paradox' is a result of confounding by indication or another cause.
Outcomes
If the prevalence of perioperative hyperglycemia in people with prediabetes is sufficiently high, clinical guidelines should recommend perioperative glycemic monitoring for patients with prediabetes. Further, if there is an association between hyperglycemia and adverse outcomes, intervention-based studies are needed to determine whether this risk is modifiable with hyperglycemia treatment.
Team
The NPI and co-investigators have led a 5-year implementation science and quality improvement study to improve perioperative glycemic management for people with diabetes in Alberta. This interdisciplinary group of patients, nurses, endocrinologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, internists, and implementation scientists will leverage their existing data access, professional networks, and content expertise to conduct this study.
Primary outcome measures
- Prevalence of perioperative hyperglycemia [Time frame: Up to the first 3 postoperative days or discharge, whichever comes first.]
Secondary outcome measures (1)
- Post-operative complications [Time frame: Within 30 days of surgery.]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Hemoglobin A1c measurement between 6 and 6.4%
- Scheduled for non-cardiac surgery
Exclusion criteria
- Age>18
- Pregnancy
- Any formal diabetes diagnosis
- Current use of medications that influence blood glucose regardless of the indication
- Undergoing cardiac, intracranial neurosurgery, bariatric, or pancreatic surgeries
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
Study locations
Canada · 1 center
- Foothills Medical Centre — Calgary
Publications
- Ruzycki SM, Harrison TG, Lithgow KC, Cameron A, Philp L, Heatlie L, Esmail R, Ejaredar M, Helmle K, McKeen J, Dillane D. Day-of-surgery quality gaps in glycemic management: a retrospective cohort study. Perioper Med (Lond). 2025 Nov 25;14(1):143. doi: 10.1186/s13741-025-00628-3. PMID 41291884
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07662980 · REB26-0116