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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]
When debridement is necessary, wounds are left open so that serial debridements may be performed over the course of the wound's healing. [7] Antibiotic choice should be guided by deep tissue culture, severity of the infection, presence or absence of osteomyelitis, prior antibiotic treatment, and previous or current MRSA infection. [17]
Foot of an 80-year old individual with type 2 diabetes and heart failure. The second toe has a large ischaemic ulcer. The first toe has a small one. The prevalence of arterial insufficiency ulcers among people with Diabetes is high due to decreased blood flow caused by the thinning of arteries and the lack of sensation due to diabetic neuropathy.
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.
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.
Where wounds take a long time to heal, infection may set in, spreading to bones and joints, and lower limb amputation may be necessary. Foot infection is the most common cause of non-traumatic amputation in people with diabetes. [9]
Cushing's syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms due to prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids such as cortisol. [4] [9] [10] Signs and symptoms may include high blood pressure, abdominal obesity but with thin arms and legs, reddish stretch marks, a round red face due to facial plethora, [11] a fat lump between the shoulders, weak muscles, weak bones, acne, and fragile skin that heals ...
The immune response is impaired in individuals with diabetes mellitus. Cellular studies have shown that hyperglycemia both reduces the function of immune cells and increases inflammation . Respiratory infections such as pneumonia , influenza and COVID-19 , [ 43 ] are more common and severe among individuals with poorly controlled diabetes.