Hopefully if you or someone you love has diabetes you already know that high blood glucose leads to infection. High blood glucose also contributes to slower healing wounds. If someone with diabetes has surgery, their risk for infection at the surgical site is higher, especially if their blood glucose level is elevated.
Many hospitals have pre-operative nurses who counsel surgery patients about what to do with their medications on the day of surgery (or the day before). They may also discuss with patients the importance of coming into surgery with a blood glucose level in (or as close as possible to) the normal range (70-110). Regardless, it’s important to have this information tucked away in your head so that if you or your loved one ever needs surgery you can plan.
Surgical site infections are a risk to everyone who undergoes surgery, but those with diabetes have a higher risk. High blood glucose puts people with diabetes at even greater risk. You can lower your risk for surgical site infection by managing your blood glucose prior to surgery.