Routine preoperative tests for elective surgery

Recommendation ID: NG45/3
Question: Glycated haemoglobin testing:- Does optimisation of HbA1c in people with poorly controlled diabetes improve surgical outcomes?
Any explanatory notes (if applicable): Why this is important:- Diabetes is the most common metabolic disorder in the UK and people with diabetes increasingly need surgical procedures. Diabetes leads to increased morbidity, length of stay and inpatient costs. Evidence suggests that doctors often fail to identify high-risk patients before surgery and do not provide perioperative interventions to control HbA1c levels. However, the impact of optimising HbA1c levels before surgery has not been assessed in a randomised clinical trial.

Source guidance details

Is this a recommendation for the use of a technology only in the context of research?	No
Is it a recommendation that suggests collection of data or the establishment of a register?	No
Last Reviewed	30/04/2016