2017 Volume 87 Issue Extra2 Pages E162-E167
The significance of foot care in diabetic patients is to salvage the limbs; that is, to prevent lower extremity amputation (LEA). Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) precede most non-traumatic LEA. Foot care in diabetic patients can therefore be split into two categories: foot care to prevent the development of DFUs; and wound care for patients who have already developed DFUs.
This review article provides an overview of the practice of foot care in diabetic patients. Next, based on a cohort study conducted in our department, risk factors for patients with DFUs were discussed. Predictors for the incidence of LEA in patients with DFUs included malnutrition and peripheral arterial disease, and lower levels of HDL cholesterol appeared to offer a novel clinical predictor. Moreover, mortality and severity of arteriosclerosis among diabetic patients after LEA are related, and baPWV appears to represent the best noninvasive index of the degree of arteriosclerosis.
