Iranian Journal of Orthopedic Surgery

Abstract Background:Recently, the relationship between clinical outcomes and postoperative complications in diabetic patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair has been reported. However, based on knowledge, very limited studies have focused on the association between preoperative hemoglobin levels and postoperative complications. Therefore, considering the importance of the subject, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between complications 6 months after surgery and the average level of hemoglobin 3 months before and 3 months after surgery in diabetic patients.
Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 61 patients with diabetes who underwent arthroscopic surgery for rotator cuff repair between 2019 and 2021 in rasoul-e-akram and Mohib mehr hospitals in Tehran, affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. The hemoglobin HbA1c (HbA1c) level was evaluated for all patients three months before and after surgery. All patients were followed up 6 months after surgery, in terms of tissue infection, need for revision, wound dehiscence and postoperative stiffness.
Results: Sixteen patients (26.2%) had stiffness after surgery. There were no cases of wound dehiscence, tissue infection, or the need for revision 6 months after surgery. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the age (odds ratio(OR): 1.13, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.03, 1.27, p: 0.041), male gender (OR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.75, p: 0.001) and HbA1c after (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.48, p: 0.011) and HbA1c before the operation of patients (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.26, p: 0.023) were associated with a higher risk of Stiffness after surgery.
Conclusion: Our study showed that the mean level of HbA1c before and after the surgery was significantly associated with an increase in the incidence of stiffness after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery.