The Diabetic Foot

Review
In: Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000.
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Excerpt

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are associated with significant impairment of quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and are a huge drain on health care resources. In Western countries, the annual incidence of foot ulceration in the diabetic population is around 2%. DFUs develop as a consequence of a combination of factors, most commonly peripheral neuropathy (loss of the gift of pain), peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and some form of unperceived trauma. Recent studies emphasize the very high prevalence of foot ulceration in people with diabetes on dialysis as a consequence of end-stage renal disease. The mortality in this patient group is higher than for most forms of cancer. All patients with diabetes should have an annual screen to identify their foot ulcer risk status: those with any risk factors require specific foot care education as well as regular contact with a health care professional, usually a podiatrist. DFUs should heal if there is an adequate arterial inflow, infection is aggressively managed, and pressure is removed from the wound and its margins. In the management of plantar neuropathic ulcers, offloading is critical and all efforts must be made to enhance patient understanding of the need for offloading. Antibiotic usage should be guided by clinical signs of infection and microbiologic analysis of deep tissue specimens: evidence now exists to show that oral antibiotics are equally efficacious as intravenous in treating most cases of osteomyelitis in the diabetic foot. Most adjunctive therapies have little evidence to support their use although recent trials suggest efficacy for a number of topical therapies including LeucoPatch (3C patch) and sucrose octasulphate; and negative pressure wound therapy has also been shown to be helpful in certain cases. There is currently no indication for hyperbaric oxygen usage, whereas recent studies suggest that topical oxygen therapies help wound healing. Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) should be easily preventable: most important is to treat any neuropathic patient with a warm swollen foot as having CN until proven otherwise. For complete coverage of all related areas of Endocrinology, please visit our on-line FREE web-text, WWW.ENDOTEXT.ORG.

Publication types

  • Review