Comparison of peripheral arterial reconstruction in diabetic and non-diabetic patients: a prospective clinic-based study

Abstract

To assess the efficacy and safety of lower extremity arterial reconstruction in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects during a 3-year period. A prospective clinic-based study between 1994–1999 in Area 7, Madrid, with a population of 569 307 and an estimated diabetic population of 37 932 (15 505 men and 22 427 women). The level of arterial reconstruction and associated risk factors were ascertained. Results: A total of 588 peripheral revascularization surgical procedures were performed in 481 patients. The diabetic patients ( n=174, 36.2%) underwent 222 surgical procedures (including 48 follow-on operations, 21.6%), and 307 non-diabetic subjects underwent 366 surgical procedures (59 follow-on operations, 16.1%). The numbers of surgical procedures per 100 000 people at risk and year were 18.8 and 1.8 for non-diabetic men and women, respectively, and 145.1 and 29.0 for men and women with diabetes mellitus (7.7- and 16.2-fold, respectively). Age at reconstruction surgery was 2 and 5 years earlier in non-diabetic than in diabetic men and women, respectively. Diabetic patients had a higher neuropathy score ( P<0.05) and were less frequently smokers ( P<0.05) than non-diabetic subjects. Diabetic subjects more frequently had distal reconstruction while proximal arterial reconstruction was more often performed in non-diabetic subjects. Between 64.6 and 80.4% of people with diabetes and 82.3 and 88.9% of non-diabetic subjects had no complications during their in-hospital stay. Distal amputation simultaneous to arterial reconstruction was the most frequent morbidity of people with diabetes during the study ( P<0.05). Despite a graft occlusion rate after femoropopliteal revascularization significantly higher than in non-diabetic people ( P<0.05), diabetic people more often required lower extremity amputations (LEAs) for the same level of bypass ( P<0.01). Cumulative limb salvage rates were lower in diabetic patients than in non-diabetic subjects at femoropopliteal (49.2 vs. 89.7%; P<0.001), femorodistal (73.5 vs. 95.2%; P<0.01), and distal reverse (77.9 vs. 87.3%; P<0.05) arterial reconstruction, at the end of the third year, but similar after aorto-iliac reconstruction (93.1 vs. 97.5%). A higher neuropathy score and the presence of foot ulcers were associated to significantly lower limb salvage in diabetic patients ( P<0.05), but not in non-diabetic people. Survival rates after 3 years were similar between diabetic and non-diabetic populations after aorto-iliac (93.1 vs. 97.5%), femoropopliteal (97.2 vs. 90.3%), and distal reverse (93.2 vs. 98.1%) revascularization, and slightly lower in diabetic compared to non-diabetic patients after femorodistal revascularization (82.1 vs. 96.3%; P<0.05). Conclusion: Although limb salvage after arterial reconstruction is lower in diabetic than in non-diabetic subjects, particularly in those with a higher neuropathy score, this surgical approach can be applied in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects with otherwise similar outcome.