Gender differences in diabetic patients following coronary artery bypass graft surgery

The objective was to examine the influence of gender in diabetic patients following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

A study from an 11-year hospitalization cohort with prospective data collection was conducted. Included in the study were diabetic patients undergoing CABG surgery between October 1993 and May 2004 (n = 2781). Patients who underwent any surgery other than CABG or had a previous cardiac surgery were excluded. The study examined 25 risk factors and 14 outcome variables.

Twelve risk factors were found to be significantly different between male and female diabetic patients undergoing CABG. Correlation coefficients were computed among the 12 significant risk factors. Three main risk factors emerged: age 70 years or greater, abnormal LVH, and number of grafts. For outcome variables, females experienced more renal complications, intraoperative complications, longer hospital stay, and mortality. Logistic regression analysis showed that after controlling for age, LVH, and number of grafts, female diabetic patients undergoing CABG were more likely to experience intraoperative complications (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.0, p = 0.025) and longer hospital stay (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.97-0.99, p = 0.039). However, there was no significant difference between male and female diabetic patients after CABG surgery with renal complications (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.95-2.1, p = 0.132) or mortality (OR 1.6, 95% CI 0.85-2.8, p = 0.153).

Female diabetic patients, when compared to male diabetic patients undergoing CABG, have significantly more intraoperative complications and longer hospital stays following surgery.