Abstract
Diabetic foot ulcers are a common precursor of limb loss in patients with diabetes. The conventional treatment often involves prolonged periods of non-weight bearing, frequent ulcer debridement, advanced wound dressing, and repeated hospitalization. When ulcers are complicated by wound infection, peripheral vascular disease, osteomyelitis, gangrene, or septicemia, they can become life-threatening. Prophylactic diabetic foot surgery is the primary treatment of choice when conservative therapy has failed to prevent or heal an ulcer. Thus, prophylactic diabetic foot surgery should be performed once ulceration has stabilized and the patient has no significant arterial vascular disease. Careful patient selection together with a thorough evaluation of the pathology of the affected foot and the management of any comorbidities are the key to a successful outcome. Timely and aggressive surgical interventions aimed at healing the affected foot can prevent many months of unsuccessful conservative care. In this brief review, I discuss some of the indications for diabetic prophylactic foot surgery and the pathomechanical foot problems that can lead to ulcer formation.
