Abstract

Purpose: Recent studies have reported that glycated albumin (GA) levels have can be used to monitor blood glucose control. Because the half-life of albumin is shorter than that of erythrocytes, serum GA levels better reflect shorter-term glycemic control status than glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). We measured serum GA levels in patients who underwent surgery and analyzed the relations of such levels to preoperative co-morbidity to examine whether serum GA levels are a useful preoperative risk factor. Methods: We studied GA levels, preoperative co-morbidity, laboratory findings, and surgical procedures in adults who underwent surgery. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether the GA level was ≥16.5% (GAH group) or <16.5% (GAN group). Results: The study group comprised 1,258 patients. Preoperative co-morbidity of coronary artery disease occurred in 28.4% of the GAH group (n=225) and 6.5% of the GAN group (n=1,033). Preoperative co-morbidity of cerebrovascular disease occurred in 16.0% of the GAH group and 5.1% of the GAN group. There were significantly more of these preoperative co-morbidity (p<0.01) in the GAH group than in the GAN group. Conclusions: The measurement of GA levels can facilitate the early detection of diabetes mellitus in surgical patients and can also contribute to the management of perioperative complications.