Inadequate Blood Glucose Control Is Associated With In-Hospital Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

BACKGROUND: Derangement of glucose metabolism after surgery is not specific to patients with diabetes mellitus. We investigated the effect of different degrees of blood glucose control (BGC) on clinical outcomes after cardiac surgery. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed 8727 adults operated on between April 1996 and March 2004. The highest blood glucose level recorded over the first 60 hours postoperatively was used to classify patients as having good (250 mg/dL) BGC; 7547 patients (85%) had good, 905 (10%) had moderate, and 365 (4%) had poor BGC. Patients with inadequate BGC were more likely to present with advanced New York Heart Association class, congestive heart failure, hypertension, renal dysfunction, and ejection fraction