Insulin therapy for improving cardiac surgical outcomes

In the current era, more complex cardiac surgical procedures are being performed on elderly patients with variety of co-morbid conditions, which increases the demand to further improve the outcome of cardiac surgery. The role of insulin therapy in improving cardiac surgical outcomes has long been studied. However, the more recent evidence suggests that the entire potential of the insulin therapy has not yet been fully disclosed. The aim of this paper is to review different aspects of insulin therapy including different protocols used, timing of therapy and the objective glycemic target levels with its effect on improving cardiac surgical outcomes.