Perioperative considerations in orthopaedic patients with diabetes mellitus: a review.

Patients with diabetes mellitus are predisposed to a host of orthopaedic problems which may require surgery and many patients with orthopaedic conditions may have unrecognised hyperglycaemia presenting for the first time at surgery. This group of patients are also prone to adverse surgical outcomes like post-operative infections and poor wound healing. The control of hyperglycaemia in orthopaedic patients with diabetes mellitus is the key in optimising surgical outcome in these patients.