Perioperative complications and their pathogenesis in diabetic patients

Diabetes is a common and growing problem in the world. It is regarded now by World Health Organization as the first non-contagious epidemic. At present there are over 285 million people in the world affected by this disease and this number is estimated to reach, in the year 2030, the value of 438 million. In the European Union this disease concerns at the moment over 30 million people, whereas in Poland there are over 2 million people with diabetes which accounts for 5% of Polish population. Diabetic patients admitted to hospital constitute from 10 to 25% of all hospitalized patients, however, these data are underestimated as they do not include patients with undiagnosed diabetes. Patients with diabetes are at a higher risk of perioperative complications. The course and prognosis of the perioperative period in this group of patients depends on many factors. Being aware of them and providing proper perioperative management results in the reduction of complications to the values typical of normoglycemic population. Furthermore, the right perioperative management reduces the hospitalization costs of diabetic patients.

This study, focused on diabetic patients, including those undergoing gynecological surgery, has set itself the following aims: to review and explain the pathogenesis of the most common perioperative problems and indicate ways of preventing them.