The present study evaluated the necessity and safety of preoperative oral carbohydrates in enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols for diabetes mellitus patients. It searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WANFANG databases for the relevant articles. 

The study retrieved 6328 articles and included five eligible randomized controlled trials; two from China and three from Germany, Sweden, and Canada. 

It found that preoperative oral carbohydrates may improve preoperative blood glucose control and postoperative insulin resistance in diabetes patients and decrease the occurrence of adverse reactions. Yet, the overall quality of the included studies was low. 

From the available evidence, this study shows that preoperative oral carbohydrates are probably beneficial for patients with diabetes mellitus. However, high-quality, large randomized controlled trials are warranted to verify these results and provide quantitative results.

Li-Na G, Lin W, Feng W. Effectiveness and Safety of Preoperative Oral Carbohydrates in Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocols for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review. BioMed Research International. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5623596