An article that appeared in this month's Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, cites a study that shows that diabetics who undergo joint replacement surgery have fewer complications afterwards if they keep good control of their blood glucose levels before and after the surgery.

Patients with controlled diabetes had significantly fewer adverse events after surgery than patients with uncontrolled diabetes.

Also, according to the article, "Patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus had a significantly increased length of stay (almost a full day) as compared with patients with controlled diabetes."

If joint replacement surgery is in your future, it pays to have blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, both before surgery and during recovery time.