Patients with diabetes whose glucose is continually
monitored after coronary bypass artery graft surgery
do not incur higher medical costs despite the
additional testing, Penn State Diabetes Center
researchers report.
"Increasing evidence suggests that sickness and
death can be reduced among surgical patients with
diabetes if we provide tighter control of blood
glucose just before, during and after surgery," said
Robert A. Gabbay, associate professor of medicine,
Penn State College of Medicine, co-director, Penn State Diabetes
Center. "Our study shows that continuous insulin monitoring and
involvement of an endocrinologist in the patients' care do not
increase the cost of treating a patient with diabetes undergoing
coronary artery bypass graft surgery."
The study, titled "Improved perioperative glycemic
control by continuous insulin infusion under
supervision of an endocrinologist does not increase
costs in patients with diabetes," was published in
the April 2004 issue of the journal Endocrine
Practice.
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