Diabetes Complicates Ankle Surgery

Patients with diabetes are more likely to have complicationswhen they break bones, specifically ankles, requiring surgery,according to the findings of a study reported in the Journal ofBone and Joint Surgery (August 1, 2005). For the study, theresearchers reviewed >160,000 operations performed onankle-fracture patients from 1988 to 2000, and of those patients5% had diabetes. The results of the study indicated that,regardless of the severity of the fracture, the patients with diabeteswere more likely to experience complications after surgery,compared with other patients. The patients with diabetesrequired an extra day of hospitalization and, furthermore,incurred higher medical costs.