Abstract
Objective We purposed to investigate whether preoperative HbA1c level
is associated with the severity of surgical treatment in diabetic hand
infection cases.
Materials and Methods Between December 2015 and October 2018, 102
patients were surgically treated due to diabetic hand infection. Of the
patients, 75 who met the criteria for diabetic hand infection were included
in the study. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1, < 8.5%
HbA1c level (poorly controlled); and Group 2, 8.5% or higher HbA1c level
(uncontrolled). Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative data were
recorded. Drainage, VAC, ray/open amputation, and microsurgical
reconstruction were performed according to the examination and clinical
findings. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results The study groups consisted of 41 patients (5 female/36 male;
median age 59 years, range 32–68) in Group 1 and 34 patients (6 female/28
male; median age 62 years, range 28–67) in Group 2. The mean follow-up
period was 21.14±10.42 months in Group 1 and 16.70±10.19 months in Group 2,
which were not significantly different (p>0.05). The most common
microbiological pathogen was polymicrobial in both study groups (39% in
Group 1 and 41.2% in Group 2). Drainage was the most common surgical
procedure in both groups and there was no significant difference between the
groups in terms of the surgical techniques that were used (p>0.05).
Conclusion Although HbA1c level is an important biomarker for
monitoring glycemia in diabetic patients, it is not associated with the
severity of surgical treatment in diabetic hand infections.
Key words diabetes - hand infection - HbA1c, surgical and clinical outcomes
