The association of amputations and peripheral artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving sodium-glucose cotransporter type-2 inhibitors: real-world study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the temporal pattern of amputations in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the risk of amputations by new and older anti-diabetic drugs (ADDs), and the interplay of peripheral artery disease (PAD) with therapy and amputation risk.

Using Centricity Electronic Medical Records from USA, 3 293 983 patients with T2DM were identified: 169 739 received sodium-glucose cotransporter type-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i; no exposure to incretins); 149 826 received glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists [GLP-1RA, no SGLT-2i or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i) exposure]; 448 225 received DPP-4i (no exposure to GLP-1RA or SGLT-2i); and 1 954 353 received other ADDs. The proportion of incident amputations per 10 000 adults ranged between 4.7 and 6.8 during 2000–08 and significantly increased to 12.3 in 2017. Over 17 211 719 person-years follow-up post T2DM diagnosis, the rates per 1000 person-years of any and lower limb amputations (LLAs) were similar between SGLT-2i and incretins [95% confidence interval (CI) range: 1.06–1.67], and significantly higher in other groups (95% CI range: 1.96–2.29). In propensity score-adjusted pairwise analyses, the risk of LLA was not higher in SGLT-2i vs. GLP1-RA [hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI): 0.88 (0.73, 1.05)], and lower in SGLT-2i vs. DPP-4i/other ADD [HR (95% CI): 0.65 (0.56, 0.75)/0.43 (0.37, 0.49)]. The rate of LLA was similar in patients treated with canagliflozin, empagliflozin, or dapagliflozin. Patients with PAD had more than four-fold higher LLA risk (range of 95% CI of HR: 3.6–6.0).

The risk of amputation in patients treated with SGLT-2i and incretins was not higher compared with other ADDs. Pre-existing PAD was the greatest driver of amputation risk.