The Effect of Surgical Procedures on the Blood Sugar Content

This paper presents the results of studies made on the blood sugar content of human beings subjected to the different influencing fact.ors incidental to surgical procedures of various kinds. The series of studies made offers an opportunity for comparing the results obtained in human beings with those obtained on animals. In the studies made by means of animal experimentation, it has been found by various observers that a hyperglycemia occurs under many different conditions, such as fright, anesthesia, loss of blood, laparotomy, and the administration of certain drugs. Recently one of us in cooperation with Baehrl found that the hyperglycemia which results from loss of blood is due to the fact that the body places into the circulation very rapidly an amount of sugar equal to that lost in the blood removed. The percentage of blood sugar rises, therefore, without any actual change in the total amount of sugar taking place in the ciroulating blood. A review of the literature on the subject of experimental hyperglycemia leads us to believe that in many instances the phenomenon was incidental (from the nature of the methods employed) rather than the direct result of the conditions imposed by the experiments. It is possible that with’the newer and simpler methods of blood sugar analysis now at our command the conclusions arrived at will differ from those thus far recorded. We were able, through the courtesy of the attending surgeons of the Hospital, to study the changes in the sugar content of the blood of patients requiring surgical interference. This class of cases was selected for study for the following reasons: (1) All