Twenty-year trends in peripheral artery disease, lower extremity revascularization, and lower extremity amputation in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes

Abstract Background Trends in risk of lower extremity complications in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are largely unexplored. Purpose To examine the 5-year risk trends of peripheral artery disease (PAD), lower extremity revascularization (LER), and lower extremity amputation (LEA) in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM over a 25-year study period. Methods We conducted a cohort study that included all patients in Denmark diagnosed with T2DM from 1996 to 2015, who had no prior hospital diagnosis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. These patients were age- and sex-matched with up to three comparisons from the general population. Individuals were assigned to 5-year calendar periods based on their year of inclusion and were followed for 5 years. The primary outcomes were the 5-year risks of PAD, LER, and LEA. Age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) were computed using Cox regression analysis. Results The study cohort consisted of 288,825 newly diagnosed T2DM patients (52% males; median age 61 years) and 782,232 comparisons from the general population. From 1996-2000 to 2015-2020, the 5-year risk of PAD decreased from 2.2% to 1.2% (aHR 0.56 [95% CI 0.52-0.61]), LER from 0.7% to 0.5% (aHR 0.73 [95% CI 0.63-0.84]), and LEA from 1.0% to 0.4% (aHR 0.44 [95% CI 0.38-0.50]) in T2DM patients (Figure). Compared with the general population, the 5-year risk differences decreased from 1.4% to 0.5% for PAD, from 0.4% to 0.2% for LER, and from 0.8% to 0.3% for LEA. The distribution of LEA types (hip/thigh, knee/lower leg, or ankle/foot/toe amputation) remained largely stable over time in T2DM patients. Use of prophylactic cardiovascular medications in T2DM patients increased notably during the study period, especially use of statins (5% to 50%) and multiple antihypertensive drugs (18% to 33%). Conclusions Over recent decades, the risks of PAD, LER, and LEA have decreased in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM, approaching the risk levels observed in the general population. This coincided with a great increase in use of prophylactic cardiovascular medications among T2DM patients.Trends in lower extremity complications.