The effect of pre-anaesthetic fasting on blood glucose level in children undergoing surgery

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Anesthesiology
• Clinical Chemistry
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Maintaining stable blood glucose is crucial during anesthesia, especially in pediatric patients.
• Fasting and anesthetic agents can impact glucose homeostasis.
• Limited data exists on blood glucose fluctuations in young children during inpatient anesthesia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate blood glucose concentrations in children aged 6 months to 10 years during inpatient anesthesia.
• To compare post-anesthetic blood glucose changes in children to those observed in adults.

Main Methods:

• Blood glucose levels were measured in 104 pediatric patients (mean age 3.1 years) before and 30 minutes after anesthesia.
• Patients underwent a mean fasting period of 10.87 hours.
• Data analysis focused on pre- and post-anesthetic glucose levels and incidence of hypoglycemia.

Main Results:

• Mean pre-anesthetic blood glucose was 4.8 +/- 0.8 mmol/L, rising to 6.1 +/- 1.9 mmol/L at 30 minutes post-anesthesia.
• Hypoglycemia (2.7-3.3 mmol/L) was detected in only 3.8% of cases pre-anesthesia.
• The post-anesthetic increase in blood glucose levels mirrored findings in adult populations.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric patients undergoing inpatient anesthesia exhibit a post-anesthetic blood glucose increase comparable to adults.
• Pre-anesthetic hypoglycemia is uncommon in this pediatric cohort.
• These findings contribute to understanding glucose metabolism during anesthesia in children.