Need Joint Replacement Surgery? Good Glucose Control Lowers Risks of Complications
Wednesday July 1, 2009
An article that appeared in this month's Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, cites a study that shows that diabetics who undergo joint replacement surgery have fewer complications afterwards if they keep good control of their blood glucose levels before and after the surgery.
Patients with controlled diabetes had significantly fewer adverse events after surgery than patients with uncontrolled diabetes.
Also, according to the article, "Patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus had a significantly increased length of stay (almost a full day) as compared with patients with controlled diabetes."
If joint replacement surgery is in your future, it pays to have blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, both before surgery and during recovery time.
Comments
I had my hip replaced in January. Was in the hospital for four days. No problems. My sugar was totally out of control, but the staff brought it down to normal ranges with insulin and a decent diet. Maybe that’s what did it because no one said anything to me about my high numbers before the surgery. I needed no PT except for learning how to stand on BOTH my feet instead of just one to compensate for my hip. And had I known before the surgery what a wonderful thing it was, I would have done it 20 years ago.