To examine the effect of diabetes on post-surgery recovery in pain or numbness in the back, buttock, leg, and sole after surgery of the lumbar spine.
This retrospective review found diabetes to be linked with
elevated leg pain and poor patient-reported outcomes at one year following
lumbar spine surgery.
To examine the effect of diabetes on post-surgery recovery
in pain or numbness in the back, buttock, leg, and sole after surgery of the
lumbar spine.
Overall, 993 patients who had decompression and/or fixation
of the lumbar spine through April 2017-June 2018 were included. Out of these,
152 patients were diabetic, and 841 were non-diabetic.
As compared to non-diabetic patients, the diabetic patients depicted reduced scores of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)/Euro quality of life 5-dimension (EQ-5D) and greater Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) scores for leg pain at one year after the operation.
Irreversible nerve damage and changes in the microvasculature in diabetic
neuropathy causes chronic peripheral pain. Even though other NRS scores were
likely to be greater in diabetic patients after the surgery, the between-group
differences were not noteworthy.
Diabetic neuropathy due to microvascular changes may give
way to irreversible nerve damage, specifically in the leg. Healthcare
professionals can use this evidence when advising about the probability of
outcomes of spine surgery in diabetic patients.
Scientific Reports
Diabetes is associated with greater leg pain and worse patient-reported outcomes at 1 year after lumbar spine surgery
Kosei Nagata et al.
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