Sitagliptin may not control blood sugar during bypass surgery in diabetics: Study

USA: Perioperative administration of sitagliptin in diabetes patients undergoing bypass surgery does not prevent hyperglycemia or complications, finds a recent study in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. The sitagliptin therapy, however, reduced daily insulin requirements when the patient shifted to regular ward.

Guillermo E Umpierrez, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues assessed whether sitagliptin treatment before surgery and during the hospital stay can help in preventing and reducing the severity of perioperative hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

For the purpose, the researchers conducted a double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial in 182 adults with T2D. They were randomly assigned to receive sitagliptin (n=91) or matching placebo (n=91) starting 1 day prior to surgery and continued during the hospital stay.

The primary outcome was difference in the proportion of patients with postoperative hyperglycaemia (blood glucose [BG] > 10 mmol/L [>180 mg/dL]) in the intensive care unit (ICU). Secondary endpoints included differences in mean daily BG in the ICU and after transition to regular wards, hypoglycaemia, hospital complications, length of stay and need of insulin therapy.