The impact of diabetes on postoperative infections in colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to analyze and summarize the evidence concerning the relationship between diabetes and postoperative infections in colon cancer through a literature review. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on Chinese databases, including CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, and the biomedical literature database, as well as the English database PubMed. The search covered the period from February 1, 2003, to February 28, 2023. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was employed to score the included literature, and funnel plots along with Eggers regression test were used to analyze publication bias. Stata 12.0 was utilized for the analysis of the collected raw data. Results: Following inclusion and exclusion criteria, this study incorporated seven retrospective studies, with a total of 4607 cases in the infection group and 9102 cases in the non-infection group. The quality scores of the seven studies ranged between 7 and 8 points. Funnel plot and Eggers regression test analyses revealed no significant publication bias in the included literature. A correlation was identified between diabetes and postoperative infections in colon cancer, implicating diabetes as a risk factor for such infections. Subgroup analysis indicated that nationality, surgical methods, and infection types had no significant impact on the meta-analysis results. Conclusion: The analysis revealed a significant correlation between diabetes and postoperative infections in colon cancer. Diabetes emerged as a risk factor for postoperative infections, with odds ratios (OR) of 3.82 (P0.1) and 95% CI of 2.91-5.01. Controlling blood glucose levels was associated with a reduced risk of postoperative infections in colon cancer.