Compared to non-diabetic patients, patients with diabetes are at considerably greater risk for developing surgical site infections while undergoing most types of surgeries, according to a new study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
"Diabetes has been recognized as a risk factor for infection following some surgeries, but has been a source of debate for other procedures," Emily Toth Martin, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan School of Public Health, said in a statement. "This study is a first step in our efforts to identify patients at high risk of SSIs. We hope this research will lead to better strategies to lower the number of these infections nationwide."
Here are four things to know about the research.
• Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 94 studies from the past 30 years. The data was analyzed based on estimates of diabetes, SSIs, types of procedures, blood glucose levels and body mass index.
• Results showed diabetes patients who underwent surgery were 50 percent more like to develop SSIs compared to patients without diabetes — 6 percent compared to 4 percent.
• Previous studies have established a link between diabetic patients and infections from several types of surgeries. This research confirmed a link to SSIs for procedures such as arthroplasty, breast, cardiac and spinal surgeries.
• SSIs occurred in 4 percent of the studies analyzed are estimated to have a financial impact of more than $3 billion per year in the U.S.