Early postoperative hyperglycaemia is not a risk factor for infectious complications and prolonged in-hospital stay in patients undergoing oesophagectomy: a retrospective analysis of a prospective trial

Introduction Treating hyperglycaemia in hospitalized patients has proven to be beneficial, particularly in those with obstructive vascular disease. In a cohort of patients undergoing resection for oesophageal carcinoma ( a group of patients with severe surgical stress but a low prevalence of vascular disease), we investigated whether early postoperative hyperglycaemia is associated with increased incidence of infectious complications and prolonged in-hospital stay. Methods Postoperative glucose values up to 48 hours after surgery were retrieved for 151 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists class I or II who had been previously included in a randomized trial conducted in a tertiary referral hospital. Multivariate regression analysis was used to define the independent contribution of possible risk factors selected by univariate analysis. Results In univariate regression analysis, postoperative glucose levels were associated with increased length of in-hospital stay ( P < 0.001) but not with infectious complications ( P = 0.21). However, postoperative glucose concentration was not found to be an independent risk factor for prolonged inhospital stay in multivariate analysis ( P = 0.20). Conclusion Our data indicate that postoperative hyperglycaemia is more likely to be a risk marker than a risk factor in patients undergoing highly invasive surgery for oesophageal cancer. We hypothesize that patients with a low prevalence of vascular disease may benefit less from intensive insulin therapy.