Adverse Outcomes after Major Surgeries in Patients with Diabetes: A Multicenter Matched Study

Abstract

The impact of diabetes on perioperative outcomes remains incompletely understood. Our purpose is to evaluate post-operative complications and mortality in patients with diabetes. Using the institutional and clinical databases of three university hospitals from 2009⁻2015, we conducted a matched study of 16,539 diabetes patients, aged >20 years, who underwent major surgery. Using a propensity score matching procedure, 16,539 surgical patients without diabetes who underwent surgery were also selected. Logistic regressions were used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for post-operative complications and in-hospital mortality associated with diabetes. Patients with diabetes had a higher risk of postoperative septicemia (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01⁻1.74), necrotizing fasciitis (OR 3.98, 95% CI 1.12⁻14.2), cellulitis (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.46⁻3.03), acute pyelonephritis (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.01⁻3.41), infectious arthritis (OR 3.89, 95% CI 1.19⁻12.7), and in-hospital mortality (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.07⁻2.13) compared to people without diabetes. Previous admission for diabetes (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.85⁻2.93), HbA1c >8% (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.64⁻2.33) and fasting glucose >180 mg/dL (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.68⁻2.16) were predictors for post-operative adverse events. Diabetes patients who underwent surgery had higher risks of infectious complications and in-hospital mortality compared with patients without diabetes who underwent similar major surgeries.

Keywords: adverse outcomes; diabetes; fasting glucose; surgeries.

Figure A1

The flowchart of matching by propensity score for patients with diabetes and people without diabetes.

Figure A2

The standardized differences of baseline covariates between surgical patients with and without diabetes.