• Guy Cammu, Koen Vermeiren, Patrick Lecomte, Steven De Gendt, Thierry Deloof, and Luc Foubert.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, OLV Clinic, 9300 Aalst, Belgium. guy.cammu@olvz-aalst.be
• J Clin Anesth. 2009 Aug 1;21(5):329-35.

Study ObjectiveTo determine whether our institutional insulin management (modified Atlanta) protocol is efficient and safe in controlling blood glucose levels in the perioperative period in surgical patients undergoing tumor hepatectomy.DesignRetrospective study.SettingLarge community hospital.Patients20 consecutive patients undergoing liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma, liver metastasis, or other hepatobiliary tumors.Interventions And MeasurementsAll patients continuously received intravenous glucose (5% dextrose in water, one mL/kg/hr); insulin was administered according to a strict algorithm, and dose adjustments were based on measurements of whole-blood glucose intraoperatively at one-hour intervals, and in the intensive care unit (ICU). Lower and upper blood glucose limits were set at 85 mg/dL and 110 mg/dL, respectively, in the operating room (OR). In the ICU, lower and upper limits were 90 mg/dL and 140 mg/dL, respectively.Main ResultsIntraoperatively, 51.3% of measurements were within the target range. In the ICU, 75.2% of measurements showed a blood glucose level of 90 - 140 mg/dL. Two of 78 (2.6%) and two of 363 (0.5%) measurements had a blood glucose level < 70 mg/dL in the OR and ICU, respectively. The lowest blood glucose levels were 65 mg/dL (OR) and 66 mg/dL (ICU).ConclusionsThe modified Atlanta protocol is efficient and safe in controlling blood glucose levels in the perioperative period of hepatic tumor resection. Because of decreased insulin needs in the ICU, the use of a more liberal algorithm successfully reduced the risk of hypoglycemia.

34 keywords...

hide…