Foot wounds in diabetic patients

Abstract

Managing nonhealing foot wounds in diabetic patients requires an understanding of the wounds' multiple contributing causes, including neuropathy, vascular occlusive disease, infection, and impaired wound healing. Proper attention to each cause may require consultations with vascular or orthopedic surgeons, diabetic education nurses, podiatrists, orthotists, and pedorthists. Wounds that fail to heal may respond to topical application of growth factors as part of a comprehensive clinical approach to the diabetic foot wound. An aggressive approach to diagnosis and treatment can result in improved wound healing and limb salvage.

The Diabetic Foot: Quality of Life

“…The most important cost drivers in a prospective study of 220 such patients were duration of wound healing and repeated surgery; the authors argue that the high costs of antibacterials should not be considered in deciding between early amputation and conservative treatment [9]. often just personal statements by the author [10], usually based on clinical experience. Unfortunately, research on healthrelated quality of life has been sparse, and there is little empirical evidence that illuminates this issue.…”

Essentials of Pressure Ulcer Treatment

“…Benzoyl peroxide promotes a moist antiseptic wound bed and might also stimulate granulation tissue 14 . Growth factors, not yet generally available, attract fibroblasts and other cells involved in the early phases of wound healing 15 . Trials with topical preparations are difficult to evaluate in diabetic foot ulcers because of the inability to keep the area pressure free during the study period unless bed rest is imposed.…”