Diabetes Mellitus and the Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Study

We explored if there was an increased risk of DVT in patients with diabetes mellitus undergoing total knee arthroplasty within 14 days followup. We reviewed 245 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty in our hospital between 2003 and 2011. The incidence of DVT within 14 days after operations was compared between diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients. There were 37 patients with DVT in the diabetes group and 88 in the non-diabetes group within 14 days followup (p = 0.002). The risk of DVT in patients with diabetes mellitus was 2.76 times the risk in patients without diabetes mellitus using logistic regression modeling (OR = 2.76, p = 0.003). Although it is still controversial, patients with diabetes had a higher incidence rate of DVT after total knee arthroplasty in our study.