Comparison of postoperative complications following CABG in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

Abstract

Background: Diabetic patients face an elevated cardiovascular disease burden, often requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, evidence regarding post-CABG outcomes in diabetic versus non-diabetic patients is inconsistent, and data from the Iranian population are particularly scarce. This study was conducted to clarify this ambiguity by comparing short-term post-CABG complications between these groups.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study analyzed data from the Yazd Cardiovascular Disease Registry (YCDR) for all CABG patients (2017-2018) at Afshar Hospital. Patients were stratified into diabetic (n=592) and non-diabetic (n=694) groups. We collected standardized data on demographics, comorbidities (including diabetes), and in-hospital major postoperative complications following CABG, such as reoperation, mortality, infections, renal complications, neurological complications (including TIA, stroke, and seizure), and pulmonary complications.

Results: The frequency distribution of female sex (36.66% vs. 21.90%), hypertension (65.03% vs. 44.52%), and hyperlipidemia (39.02% vs. 23.20%) in diabetic patients was significantly higher than in non-diabetic patients (p<0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between diabetic and non-diabetic groups in the incidence of major complications, including reoperation (2.1% vs. 2.3%), mortality (3.2% vs. 2.4%), and other major events (all p>0.05). However, seizure occurred exclusively in the diabetic group (1.1% vs. 0%; p=0.049). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that diabetes mellitus was not an independent predictor of overall postoperative complications.

Conclusion: In this cohort, diabetes was not an independent risk factor for most short-term post-CABG complications. The exception was a higher seizure incidence in diabetic patients, warranting further mechanistic investigation. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.