Blood glucose concentration in pediatric outpatient surgery

Abstract

Blood glucose concentration was measured in 84 pediatric patients who were scheduled for outpatient surgery at Chulalongkorn Hospital. They were allocated into 3 groups according to their ages, group 1:less than 1 year of age, group 2:1 to 5 years of age and group 3:over 5 years. The fasting times were approximately 8-12 hours. All patients received standard general anesthesia under mask. No glucose solution was given during operation. Preoperative mean blood glucose were 91.09 +/- 17.34, 89.55 +/- 18.69 and 82.14 +/- 16.14 mg/dl in group 1, 2 and 3 while the postoperative mean glucose values were 129.07 +/- 37.90, 115.62 +/- 29.63 and 111.53 +/- 23.07 mg/dl respectively. The difference between pre- and post-operative values were statistically significant difference (P < 0.01). None of the children had hypoglycemia even when fasting longer than expected. Increased postoperative glucose values may be due to stress response from surgery and anesthesia. We would suggest that the parents give the fluid to their children according to our instructions in order to prevent dehydration and hypoglycemia especially in small infants.