Titanium fixtures for bone-conduction devices and the influence of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether diabetes mellitus (DM) is a risk factor for titanium fixture loss in bone-conduction devices (BCDs) because of osseointegration failure.

Study Design: Retrospective case study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Patients: All patients who received a BCD at Nijmegen between January 1, 1988, and December 31, 2007, were analyzed. The analyses were performed on 833 patients (993 implants) and a subpopulation of patients aged 40 years or older consisting of 641 patients (739 implants).

Methods: Patients received a questionnaire asking about the presence of DM at the time of implantation. Data concerning implant loss were retrieved from medical records and the Nijmegen BCD database.

Results: The total survival rate of the BCD implant in this population was 90.6%. The prevalence of DM was 9.3%. In the subpopulation of patients aged 40 years or older, the non-DM group lost 5.1% of their implants versus 14% of Type 2 DM patients, a statistically significantly difference (p = 0.003). Spontaneous loss, loss due to a Grade 4 Holgers skin reaction, and trauma accounted for 2.2% versus 4.7% (p = 0.13), 0.5% versus 2.3% (p = 0.1), and 0.6% versus 4.7% (p = 0.007), respectively, of implant losses in non-DM versus Type 2 DM patients.

Conclusion: The prevalence of DM among the Nijmegen BCD population is higher than the general Dutch prevalence. A statistically significantly higher implant loss was observed during the study period for Type 2 DM patients than non-DM BCD wearers.