Frequency of Diabetes Mellitus in Patients with Lumbar Spinal Canal Stenosis

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a systemic disease affecting different tissues. Hyperglycemia due to DM can lead to degenerative changes in spinal tissue. Also low data have examined the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in lumbar spinal canal stenosis individuals. Therefore the purpose of this study was determining the frequency of DM in lumbar spinal canal stenosis patients.
A cross-sectional study on 119 lumbar spinal canal stenosis patients, since September 2014 till February 2015 from the department of neurosurgery in Rahnamoon hospital of Yazd, Iran was done. After gathering of demographic data, these subjects divided in two groups based on present or absent of DM. The latest criteria established by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) were used to diagnose DM patients.
The frequency of DM among lumbar spinal canal stenosis patients was 22.7 %. The frequency of DM was higher in women than men that there was significant difference in the diabetic and non-diabetic patients (P=0.002). Also the mean age of diabetic patients was higher than non-diabetic patients (P=0.036). Diabetes was more prevalent in patients older than 50 years old.
According to our findings, the frequency of DM among lumbar spinal canal stenosis patients was high that may be a probably predisposing factor for the development of significant lumbar disc disease in this region. Also other factors may help to develop lumbar spinal stenosis.