My son, who was with type 1 in June 2004, has broken his right tibia playing football. What happens to a diabetic who breaks a bone? Is he more susceptible to a longer healing time, even though he is newly diagnosed? Is he more susceptible to having this injury occur again, than the normal adolescent without diabetes? Did this injury occur more easily because he is a diabetic? Are there any special complications that I should watch for because he is a diabetic?

In my experience, the occurrence of a broken bone in the diabetic child or adolescent is not more common than in non-diabetic people. Last summer, a 15 year old boy in my clinic broke his leg falling down from a horse. He underwent a surgical correction and has recovered in the same time as non-diabetic patients. So, there is no a longer healing time and they are not more susceptible to having this injury occur again. About complications, perhaps the only one that can be taken in particular consideration because of diabetes is infection. In fact, diabetic people who are in poor glycemic control could have infectious episodes that last longer than non diabetic people.

AS