Does diabetes mellitus impair the clinical results of total knee arthroplasty under enhanced recovery after surgery?

Abstract

Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoarthritis (OA) are common diseases that are predicted to increase in prevalence, and DM is a risk factor for OA progression and has a negative impact on the outcome. However, the evidence remains unclear on how it affects patients’ clinical results of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) under enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS). Methods A retrospective single-center study was conducted comparing diabetic and non-diabetic patients who underwent TKA in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between September 2016 to December 2017 under ERAS. Consecutive propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted by 1:1 (DM: non-DM) matching analysis with all baselines as covariates. The primary clinical results were the improvement of knee joint function, the incidence of postoperative complications, and the FJS-12 sensory results 5 years after the operation between DM and Non-DM groups. The secondary clinical results were the postoperative length of stay (LOS), postoperative blood test and total blood loss (TBL). Result After PSM, the final analysis included 84 diabetic patients and 84 non-diabetic patients. Diabetic patients were more likely to experience early postoperative complications (21.4% vs. 4.8%, P = 0.003), of which wound complications are the most significant (10.7% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.022). Diabetic patients experienced longer postoperative LOS with a significant increase in patients with LOS exceeding 3 days (66.7% vs. 50%, P = 0.028) and showed less postoperative range of motion (ROM) (106.43 ± 7.88 vs. 109.50 ± 6.33 degrees, P = 0. 011). Diabetic patients also reported lower Forgotten joint score (FJS-12) than non-diabetic patients (68.16 + 12.16 vs. 71.57 + 10.75, P = 0.020) in the 5-year follow-up and were less likely to achieve a forgotten knee joint (10.7% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.022). In additional, Compared with non-diabetics, diabetic patients showed lower hemoglobin (Hb) (P < 0.001) and hematocrit (HCT) (P < 0.001) and were more likely to suffer from hypertension before TKA (P < 0.001). Conclusion Diabetic patients show increased risk for postoperative complications, and have lower lower postoperative ROM and lower FJS-12 compared with non-diabetic patients after TKA under ERAS. More perioperative protocols are still needed to be investigated and optimized for diabetic patients.