• Sherif Awad, Krishna K Varadhan, Olle Ljungqvist, and Dileep N Lobo.
• Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
• Clin Nutr. 2013 Feb 1;32(1):34-44.

Background & AimsWhilst preoperative carbohydrate treatment (PCT) results in beneficial physiological effects, the effects on postoperative clinical outcomes remain unclear and were studied in this meta-analysis.MethodsProspective studies that randomised adult non-diabetic patients to either PCT (≥50 g oral carbohydrates 2-4 h pre-anaesthesia) or control (fasted/placebo) were included. The primary outcome was length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes included development of postoperative insulin resistance, complications, nausea and vomiting. Methodological quality was assessed using GRADEpro® software.ResultsTwenty-one randomised studies of 1685 patients (733 PCT: 952 control) were included. No overall difference in length of stay was noted for analysis of all studies or subgroups of patients undergoing surgery with an expected hospital stay ≤2 days or orthopaedic procedures. However, patients undergoing major abdominal surgery following PCT had reduced length of stay [mean difference, 95% confidence interval: -1.08 (-1.87 to -0.29); I² = 60%, p = 0.007]. PCT reduced postoperative insulin resistance with no effects on in-hospital complications over control (risk ratio, 95% confidence interval, 0.88 (0.50-1.53), I² = 41%; p = 0.640). There was significant heterogeneity amongst studies and, therefore, quality of evidence was low to moderate.ConclusionsPCT may be associated with reduced length of stay in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, however, the included studies were of low to moderate quality.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

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