[Hyperglycemia assessment in the post-anesthesia care unit].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Hyperglycemia in surgical patients may cause serious problems. Analyzing this complication in this scenario contributes to improve the management of these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hyperglycemia in the post-anesthetic care unit (PACU) in non-diabetic patients undergoing elective surgery and analyze the possible risk factors associated with this complication. METHODS We evaluated non-diabetic patients undergoing elective surgeries and admitted in the PACU. Data were collected from medical records through precoded questionnaire. Hyperglycemia was considered when blood glucose was>120mg.dL-1. Patients with hyperglycemia were compared to normoglycemic ones to assess factors associated with the problem. We excluded patients with endocrine-metabolic disorders, diabetes, children under 18 years, body mass index (BMI) below 18 or above 35, pregnancy, postpartum or breastfeeding, history of drug use, and emergency surgeries. RESULTS We evaluated 837 patients. The mean age was 47.8±16.1 years. The prevalence of hyperglycemia in the postoperative period was 26.4%. In multivariate analysis, age (OR=1.031, 95% CI 1.017-1.045); BMI (OR=1.052, 95% CI 1.005-1.101); duration of surgery (OR=1.011, 95% CI 1.008-1.014), history of hypertension (OR=1.620, 95% CI 1.053-2.493), and intraoperative use of corticosteroids (OR=5.465, 95% CI 3.421-8.731) were independent risk factors for postoperative hyperglycemia. CONCLUSION The prevalence of hyperglycemia was high in the PACU, and factors such as age, BMI, corticosteroids, blood pressure, and duration of surgery are strongly related to this complication.