Dexamethasone, Glycemic Control, and Outcomes in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Undergoing Elective, Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty

Background: Dexamethasone (DEX) has been shown to reduce pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting for patients undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty (TJA). We investigated the impact of DEX on glycemic control and outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing elective primary TJA. Methods: All patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing primary elective TJA between January 2016 and December 2021 at 4 sites within 1 hospital system were identi fied. Propensity scores were calculated to match patients receiving or not receiving DEX. Primary outcomes were perioperative blood glucose levels and the incidence of hyperglycemia. Secondary outcomes were the amount of insulin administered, the occurrence of 30 -day postoperative surgical site infections, hospital readmission, and mortality. Results: After matching, we identi fied 1372 patients. DEX administration was associated with a signi fi- cant increase in mean blood glucose levels in mg/dL on postoperative days (PODs) 0 to 2: POD 0 (28.4, 95% con fidence interval [CI]: 24.6-32.1), POD 1 (14.4, 95% CI: 10.1-18.8), POD 2 (12.4, 95% CI: 7.5-17.2) when comparing patients who did or did not receive DEX. Additionally, patients receiving DEX, compared to patients who did not receive DEX, had increased odds of experiencing hyperglycemia on POD 0 (odds ratio: 4.0, 95% CI: 3.1-5.2). DEX was not associated with a signi ficant difference in insulin administration, surgical site infections, hospital readmission, or mortality. Conclusions: In our review of 1372 patients with propensity -matched type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing elective, primary TJA, we found that DEX administration was associated with an increased risk of elevated mean glucose on POD 0-2, hyperglycemia on POD 0, but was not associated with an increase in total insulin dose administered nor occurrence of surgical site infections, hospital readmission, or mortality within 30 days of surgery in patients who received DEX compared to patients who did not receive DEX. Level of Evidence: IV. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).