People with diabetes may be less likely to have complications after a knee replacement if bone cement is used, along with an antibiotic.

As the number of people with diabetes continues to increase, there is real concern among orthopaedic surgeons as to how they will fare if they need a knee replacement. For nearly one in five of people over 65 now has diabetes, which is just the age where someone is most likely to need a knee replacement.

Potential complications for diabetics after knee replacement include slow wound healing, problems with fracture healing and lack of sensation in the joint that can lead to un-noticed trauma. Researchers in Indiana have reviewed the outcome for people with and without diabetes after a knee replacement.

They found that deep infections in the operation area ran at 0.7 per cent for people without diabetes, and at 1.2 per cent in the diabetic group. But those diabetics treated with bone cement and the antibiotic cefuroxime were less likely to have a deep infection. This study was based on over 5,000 people having a knee replacement, of whom six per cent had diabetes.

Source

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 5th February 2003