Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is an indicator of glucose control over a 3-month period. The plastic surgery service began screening HbA1c levels prior to surgery when a trend in infectious complications was noted in diabetics. We made a cutoff value of < 8% for elective hand surgery. METHODS: The institutional review board approved a 7-year retrospective chart review (#201900402) 2012 through 2018 of our elective diabetic hand surgery cases. Data collected included: surgery, HbA1c levels within 3 months before surgery, glucose finger sticks day of surgery, and infectious complications up to 30 days after surgery. A Fisher exact test using a P value of < .05 and a logistic regression analysis using a P value of < .05 were used to determine statistical significance between infectious complications and screening. RESULTS: In all, 848 cases were recorded in the data base. Infection complication rates before and after screening were not statistically significant (P = .44). All major complications (3) requiring a return to the operating room involved surgery within the flexor sheath before screening was enforced. This was not statistically significant (P = .25). The relative risk of an infectious complication involving the flexor sheath in unscreened patients was 3.66. A logistic regression analysis found no correlation with infectious complications based on the 3 variables of screening time (P = .99), preoperative finger stick values (P = .12), or HbA1c levels (P = .29). CONCLUSION: The data did not support our guidelines for enforcing HbA1c cutoff levels prior to elective hand surgery. Consider enforcing levels < 8% when the flexor sheath may be violated.