Impact of diabetes mellitus on old patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

Few reports have focused on whether old diabetic patients had worse outcomes compared to old nondiabetics after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of old diabetic patients compared to old nondiabetics following isolated CABG. From January 2004 to December 2008, the relevant pre-, intra-, and postoperative materials of all CABG patients over 65 years of age in our center were investigated and analyzed retrospectively. In this study, diabetes is defined as the need for oral medication or insulin. A total of 140 diabetic patients over 65 years of age were entered in the study, accounting for 31.7% of the total population. Diabetic patients over 65 years of age were less likely to have undergone previous percutaneous coronary intervention (P < 0.0001) and more likely to undergo CPB (P = 0.03) during CABG as compared to nondiabetics over 65 years of age. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed diabetic patients over 65 years of age only had a higher rate of deep sternal wound infection (OR = 2.76, 95%CI 1.22-7.83, P = 0.002), while sharing almost similar rates among other morbidities and mortality as compared to nondiabetic patients over 65 years of age. Excellent results following CABG may be expected in old diabetic patients.