Carbohydrate Loading and Diabetes in Colorectal Surgery

August 19, 2025 updated by: University of Alberta

In Individuals With Diabetes Undergoing Elective Colorectal Surgery, Is Carbohydrate Loading Preoperatively Safe? A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a large study that would assess the safety of carbohydrate drinks (i.e. juice) prior to elective colorectal surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Traditionally, prior to surgeries involving a general anesthetic, patients have been told not to eat or drink anything after midnight due to the risk of aspiration. More recent research have shown that it is safe to have clear fluids up to 2 hours before an operation and this is reflected in the current anesthesia clinical guidelines. Moreover, it has been shown that subjecting patients to a state of starvation causes stress on the body that may lead to complications such as poor wound healing, infections, and delayed return to bowel function. A sugar drink before surgery has been shown to be beneficial and can lead to decreased complication rates and decreased length of stay after surgery.

However, it is currently not known if it is safe for patients with type 2 diabetes to have a sugar drink before their surgery since they have trouble processing sugars and a subset of patients with diabetes are at increased risk of aspiration due to delayed stomach emptying.

This feasibility study is designed to answer the question of whether a large scale trial can be conducted examining the benefits of a pre-operative sugar drink in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
71

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • University of Alberta Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All adult (>=18 years of age) patients with an established diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing elective colorectal surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital, the Grey Nuns Hospital, the Royal Alexandra Hospital or the Misericordia Hospital will be eligible. Only patients treated with diet or oral hypoglycemic agents will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects <18 years of age, and those on insulin therapy preoperatively will be excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Standard Care
Standard care for patients with diabetes pre-operatively .
Experimental: Carbohydrate drink
Carbohydrate drink containing 40g of carbohydrate to be consumed three hours prior to surgery
Dietary supplement: Pre-operative carbohydrate drink
Carbohydrate drink containing 40g of carbohydrate to be consumed three hours prior to surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mean difference of preoperative glucose between the two groups
Time Frame: Pre-operative
Examined in a non-inferiority fashion with NI margin set as 2mmol/L
Pre-operative

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Composite outcome of diabetes-related complications
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
hypoglycemia, DKA, cancellation of surgery, ketosis or perioperative aspiration
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
length of stay
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
How long the patient stays in hospital after surgery in days
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Surgical site infection
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Whether a wound infection is noted in hospital
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Postoperative complications using the Clavien Dindo scale
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
A composite measure of post-operative complications stratified based on the Clavien Dindo scale from 1-5 with increasing severity from 1 to 5.
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Post-operative serum blood glucose concentration
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Serum blood glucose compiled on a daily basis
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Rate of peri-operative insulin use
Time Frame: Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge
Whether insulin or an insulin infusion in the peri-operative period is used
Within 30 days of surgery or to discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Alberta

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 22, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 27, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 1, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 21, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 19, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Carbs Drink in Colorectal

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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Locations

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