Effect of Uncontrolled Diabetes on Outcomes After Cystectomy in Patients With Bladder Cancer: A Population-Based Study

Background: We evaluated the complications, mortality, hospital length of stay (LOS), and cost for patients with diabetes undergoing radical cystectomy (RC). Materials and methods: Data were extracted from the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample for 2001 to 2012 using the "International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification" codes for patients with uncontrolled diabetes (UD) (patients with diabetes receiving treatment that did not keep the blood glucose at acceptable levels) and controlled diabetes (CD) (patients with diabetes not otherwise stated as uncontrolled) who had undergone RC. chi(2) and Wilcoxon rank sum tests and multivariable regression analysis were used for statistics. The LOS and cost are presented as the median and interquartile range. Results: In the present study, 989 patients had UD, 15,693 CD, and 73,603 had no diabetes (ND). Postoperative complications were significantly more common in the UD group (73%) than in the CD (51%) and ND (52%) groups (P < .0001). On multivariable analysis, the UD group were more likely than the CD group to have any complication (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-2.7), including renal (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.8-2.4) and infectious (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.3-3.1) complications. Patients with UD were also 4.3 times (95% CI, 3.1-5.8) more likely to die after surgery than were patients with CD. The ND group was slightly more likely than the CD group to experience any complication (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.09-1.17) and death (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.4-1.8). The LOS and cost for UD patients were greater than for CD patients. On multivariable analysis, UD patients had a 30% increase in LOS and 23% increase in cost (P < .0001). Conclusion: The findings from the present study have demonstrated an increase in post-RC complications rates, hospital mortality, and hospital resource usage for patients with UD undergoing RC. UD might be a modifiable preoperative risk factor for post-RC morbidity and mortality. Further studies are needed to validate this association.