Increased risk of endometritis and wound infection after cesarean section in insulin-dependent diabetic women.

To determine if diabetic women have an increased risk for post-cesarean section endometritis and/or wound infection, all insulin-requiring diabetic women who were delivered by cesarean section between 1977 and 1981 were compared with a group of nondiabetic patients delivered by cesarean section. Patients were divided into low-risk or high-risk groups on the basis of labor and ruptured membranes. Compared with control subjects, diabetic patients were at significantly greater risk for postoperative infectious morbidity. Among diabetic patients, risk for postoperative infections was independent of White's classification of diabetes and gestational age at delivery. The increased rate of infection among the diabetic patients suggests that prophylactic antibiotics might be efficacious for insulin-requiring diabetic patients undergoing cesarean section.