The Impact of Comorbid Diabetes on Short-Term Postoperative Outcomes in Stage I/II Colon Cancer Patients Undergoing Open Colectomy

PURPOSE: This study aimed at evaluating the impact of comorbid diabetes on short-term postoperative outcomes in patients with stage I/II colon cancer after open colectomy. METHODS: The data were extracted from the National Inpatient Sample database (2005-2010). Short-term surgical outcomes included in-hospital mortality, postoperative complications, and hospital length of stay. RESULTS: A total of 49,064 stage I/II colon cancer patients undergoing open surgery were included, with a mean age of 70.35 years. Of them, 21.94% had comorbid diabetes. Multivariable analyses revealed that comorbid diabetes was significantly associated with a lower risk of in-hospital mortality and postoperative complications. Compared to patients without diabetes, patients with uncomplicated diabetes had lower percentages of in-hospital mortality and postoperative complications, but patients with complicated diabetes had a higher percentage of postoperative complications. In addition, patients with diabetes only, but not patients with diabetes and hypertension only, had a lower percentage of in-hospital mortality than patients without any comorbidity. CONCLUSION: The present results suggested the protective effects of uncomplicated diabetes on short-term surgical outcomes in stage I/II colon cancer patients after open colectomy. Further studies are warranted to confirm these unexpected findings and investigate the possible underlying mechanisms.