Jiayong Liu1, Todd Ludwig, Nabil A Ebraheim. 1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio 43614, USA. jiayong.liu@utoledo.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether blood haemoglobin A 1c (HbA1c) levels was predicative of diabetic patients' responsiveness to surgical treatment of ankle fractures. METHODS: The relationship between blood HbA1c levels and surgical treatment outcomes of 21 diabetic patients undergoing open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) for ankle fractures was analyzed with Pearson correlation testing and t testing. All patients were treated with ORIF using standard surgical techniques. Treatment outcomes were defined using radiological outcome, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Score (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale score, surgical revision rate, and complication rate. RESULTS: HbA1c levels were found to have a statistically significant correlation with poor radiological outcomes (r = 0.547) and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores (r = -0.592). Additionally, though rates of poor radiological outcome, revision, and complication were high in the diabetic population as a whole, these rates were considerably higher among individuals with elevated HbA1c (≥6.5%) and considerably lower among individuals with lower HbA1c (<6.5%) levels. CONCLUSION: Blood HbA1c levels appear to be predictive of risk and complication rates in the surgical treatment outcomes of diabetic patients with ankle fractures.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether blood haemoglobin A 1c (HbA1c) levels was predicative of diabeticpatients' responsiveness to surgical treatment of ankle fractures. METHODS: The relationship between blood HbA1c levels and surgical treatment outcomes of 21 diabeticpatients undergoing open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) for ankle fractures was analyzed with Pearson correlation testing and t testing. All patients were treated with ORIF using standard surgical techniques. Treatment outcomes were defined using radiological outcome, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Score (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale score, surgical revision rate, and complication rate. RESULTS: HbA1c levels were found to have a statistically significant correlation with poor radiological outcomes (r = 0.547) and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores (r = -0.592). Additionally, though rates of poor radiological outcome, revision, and complication were high in the diabetic population as a whole, these rates were considerably higher among individuals with elevated HbA1c (≥6.5%) and considerably lower among individuals with lower HbA1c (<6.5%) levels. CONCLUSION: Blood HbA1c levels appear to be predictive of risk and complication rates in the surgical treatment outcomes of diabeticpatients with ankle fractures.