The relationship between clinical outcomes of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and hemoglobin A1c

The clinical outcomes of diabetic patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair have been reported. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between these clinical outcomes and postoperative hemoglobin A1c. This study compared clinical outcomes of diabetic patients with a hemoglobin A1c < 7% to those with a hemoglobin A1c ≥ 7% at 12 months post-arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

This retrospective study involved 51 consecutive patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair from 2015 to 2020. Approximately 26 and 25 shoulders were assigned to a Low group (hemoglobin A1c < 7%) and High group (hemoglobin A1c ≥ 7%) at 12 months postoperatively, respectively. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes were preoperatively hospitalized for perioperative diabetic control. Clinical outcomes were shoulder range-of-motion, Constant Shoulder Score, and University of California, Los Angeles Score preoperatively and at 12 months postoperatively. Complications were also evaluated.

Both groups showed significant improvement in their range-of-motion, Constant Shoulder Score, and University of California, Los Angeles score at 12 months post-arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (p < 0.05) except external rotation in High group. These improvements were significantly inferior in the High group compared to the Low group (Low/High group; 167.3 ± 7.7°/159.5 ± 16.3° for forward flexion; p = 0.013, 94.9 ± 7.6/90.1 ± 9.9 points for Constant Shoulder Score; p = 0.033, 32.6 ± 3.6/30.6 ± 4.1 points for University of California, Los Angeles score, p = 0.037). Hemoglobin A1c at 12 months postoperatively was also significantly inferior in the High group (Low/High group; 6.5 ± 0.3%/7.6 ± 0.8%; p < 0.05). The rate of rotator cuff retear was not significantly different between groups (Sugaya type4; p = 0.49, type5; p = 0.322) and there were no cases of infection or shoulder stiffness in either group.

Diabetic patients showed improvement of their range-of-motion and function after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair; however, patients with poorly controlled diabetes had significantly inferior improvement.