Effect of Diabetes Mellitus on Cardiac Autonomic Function in Surgical Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia

Overview

Because autonomic neuropathy affects the constriction of thermoregulatory blood vessels, it is more difficult for diabetic patients to maintain their own body temperature in cold environments than normal people, and therefore it is more difficult for diabetic patients to maintain a relatively constant body temperature regardless of the temperature of the environment than normal people. So are diabetic patients under general anesthesia more susceptible to intraoperative hypothermia? How does heart rate variability change in diabetic patients under general anesthesia? If diabetic patients are more susceptible to intraoperative hypothermia under general anesthesia, is this related to their cardiac autonomic dysfunction?

According to the latest version of data released by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in 2021, it can be seen that the number of people with diabetes globally or in China is high and the percentage is increasing.In 2021, there are 537 million people with diabetes globally, and there are about 141 million in China, which is an increase of about 21.55% compared with 2019 . Perioperative hypothermia is a clinical phenomenon in which a patient's core body temperature is below 36°C for non-medical purposes during the perioperative period, with an incidence of about 7-90%, which can lead to a variety of adverse outcomes.In hot environments, sweating and vasodilation are severely compromised in diabetic patients due to autonomic neuropathy, which prevents the body from transferring heat from the inside of the body to the skin through vasodilation, increased blood flow, and sweating. Similarly, because autonomic neuropathy affects the constriction of thermoregulatory blood vessels, it is more difficult for diabetic patients to maintain their own body temperature in cold environments than normal people, and therefore it is more difficult for diabetic patients to maintain a relatively constant body temperature regardless of the temperature of the environment than normal people. On the other hand, general anesthesia and external environmental factors in the operating room increase the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia, and theoretically, diabetic patients are more prone to dramatic fluctuations in their own body temperature during surgery, making it difficult for them to adapt to changes in the external environment. Due to the complex pathophysiological mechanism of diabetes, which affects multiple systems throughout the body, there are currently more than 100 complications of diabetes, of which autonomic neuropathy has the most serious impact on diabetic patients. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is one of the most common and serious complications of diabetic autonomic neuropathy, with a prevalence of 63% . And heart rate variability is one of the most common tests for diabetic cardiac autonomic dysfunction. So are diabetic patients under general anesthesia more susceptible to intraoperative hypothermia? How does heart rate variability change in diabetic patients under general anesthesia? If diabetic patients are more susceptible to intraoperative hypothermia under general anesthesia, is this related to their cardiac autonomic dysfunction? However, there are still no studies and little attention has been paid to it.