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Diabetic foot ulcer is a breakdown of the skin and sometimes deeper tissues of the foot that leads to sore formation. It is thought to occur due to abnormal pressure or mechanical stress chronically applied to the foot, usually with concomitant predisposing conditions such as peripheral sensory neuropathy, peripheral motor neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy or peripheral arterial disease. [1]
Patients should be regularly checking their feet daily, if they are not able to view the bottom of their feet they can use a mirror to aid them. [3] Prevention of diabetic foot infections include regular foot examinations by a healthcare professional as well as maintenance of cardiovascular co-morbidities and risk factors. [ 11 ]
Ideally, wound dressings should be changed daily to promote a clean environment and allow for daily evaluation of wound progression. Highly exudative wounds and infected wounds should be monitored closely and may require more frequent dressing changes. [33] Negative pressure wound dressings can be changed less frequently, every 2–3 days. [42]
Chronic ulcer symptoms usually include increasing pain, friable granulation tissue, foul odour, and wound breakdown instead of healing. [3] Symptoms tend to worsen once the wound has become infected. Venous skin ulcers that may appear on the lower leg, above the calf or on the lower ankle usually cause achy and swollen legs.
Diabetes is very common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that 38.4 million people in the United States are currently living with diabetes. That’s 11.6 percent of the ...
Timing is important to wound healing. Critically, the timing of wound re-epithelialization can decide the outcome of the healing. [11] If the epithelization of tissue over a denuded area is slow, a scar will form over many weeks, or months; [12] [13] If the epithelization of a wounded area is fast, the healing will result in regeneration.
Increased risk of wound infections; Restrictive lung disease is known to be associated with diabetes. Lung restriction in diabetes could result from chronic low-grade tissue inflammation, microangiopathy, and/or accumulation of advanced glycation end products. [46]
Research into hormones and wound healing has shown estrogen to speed wound healing in elderly humans and in animals that have had their ovaries removed, possibly by preventing excess neutrophils from entering the wound and releasing elastase. [26] Thus the use of estrogen is a future possibility for treating chronic wounds.