1JAIV9E1

Page 1

Santos, V., Caires F., Santos A., Dionisio I. (2020) Multidisciplinary effort for the Healing of a Diabetic Foot Ulcer, Journal of Aging & Innovation 8 (3): 4- 29 Santos, V., Caires F., Santos A., Dionisio I. (2020) Multidisciplinary effort for the Healing of a Diabetic Foot Ulcer, 8 (3): 4- 29

 Case Study

Multidisciplinary effort for the Healing of a Diabetic Foot Ulcer Esforço multidisciplinar para a Cicatrização de uma Úlcera de pé Diabético Esfuerzo multidisciplinario para curar una úlcera del pie diabético

Vítor Santos 1, Francisco Girão de Caires 2, Ana Sofia Teixeira Santos 3, Isabel Dionisio4 1 3

RN, CNS, MsC, São Peregrino, Centro Hospitalar do Oeste; 2-4 MD, General Surgery, Centro Hospitalar do Oeste; RN, Centro Hospitalar do Oeste;

Corresponding Author: vitorsantos.speregrino@gmail.com

Abstract Diabetic foot ulcers figure as one of the most complex and hard to heal wounds. No isolated approach is the best approach. The best approach is made by a multidisciplinary team, by a very objective evaluation, that allows the identification of the most probable and significant barriers to the achievement of full heling. It is shown how important is a previous vascular assessment, the correct selection of the surgical technique, and the adequate follow up of the patient’s wound in terms of tissue viability, without forgetting the need of a podiatrist collaboration for the prevention of post-healing complications and ulcer recurrence. Keywords: diabetic foot, Complex wounds, surgery.

Introduction

Foot problems are one of the most common complications of diabetes. There are between 2% and 6% of diabetic patients that will develop a foot ulcer/year.5 The risk of lower extremity amputation in people with diabetes is 15 to 46 times higher than in nondiabetic patients.4 One can easily claim it constitutes the most common underlying cause of lower extremity amputation in the western world. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show in the United states of America an annual number of 111,000 hospitalizations for the diabetic foot in 2003, thereby surpassing the number attributed to peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Still we see that the annual rate of amputations in the United States has almost halved in the past decade, and most of this decrease has been in the above-ankle amputations.7 After the initial JOURNAL OF AGING AND INNOVATION, ABRIL, 2020, 9 (1)  ISSN: 2182-696X  http://journalofagingandinnovation.org/ DOI: 10.36957/jai.2182-696X.v9i1-1

4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.