Do Trauma Patients With Diabetes Face Higher Complication Rates?
Patients with diabetes face a higher risk of complications in a number of areas. A large study recently published in the Archives of Surgery notes that those with diabetes also face more complications from trauma surgery. From 1984 to 2002, researchers examined 12,489 patients with diabetes, matching their ages, sex and injury severity with 12,489 non-diabetic patients from 27 Pennsylvania trauma centers. The study concluded that patients with diabetes spent more time in the intensive care unit and received ventilator support for a longer period of time. Twenty-three percent of patients with diabetes had complications in comparison to 14 percent of those without diabetes. The study did not note a difference in mortality rates or the length of hospital stay. Eric Espensen, DPM, has likewise seen a higher rate of complications in trauma patients with diabetes. He says the complications have usually involved a higher rate of infection, even in the face of empirically prescribed antibiotic
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