Objective To introduce the basic research and cl inical appl ication of stem cells transplantation for treating diabetic foot. Methods The recent original articles about the stem cells transplantation for treating diabetic foot were extensively reviewed. Results Transplanted different stem cells in diabetic foot could enhanced ulceration heal ing in certain conditions, increase neovascularization and avoid amputation. Conclusion Stem cells transplantation for treating diabeticfoot may be a future approach．
Objective To review the progress in amputation technique of diabetic foot. Methods Recent l iterature concerning the amputation technique of diabetic foot was reviewed and analyzed. Results According to the different levels of the amputation, the diabetic foot’s amputation can be classified as major amputation and minor amputation, and differentkinds of methods can derive from these styles. Different factors should be considered when the style and method of amputation are chosen. Conclusion To the diabetic foot amputation, the general rule is to l imit the amputation level on the premise of the good cl inical effect. The health state, the region of the diabetic foot, the tissue perfusion, the susceptibil ity to infection in local tissue, and the abil ity of wound healing are important factors in selecting the styles and methods of diabetes-related amputations. Importance should be attached to the synthesis treatments of diabetes to prevent the higher level amputation.
Diabetic foot ulcer is the most serious complication of diabetes. In addition to diabetic peripheral neuropathy and lower extremity vascular disease, diabetic foot pressure abnormality is an independent risk factor for diabetic foot ulcers. This review summarizes the relationship between plantar pressure and diabetes, including the concept of the plantar pressure and its measurement methods, as well as the abnormal changes in the plantar pressure of diabetic patients. In addition, through the explanation of the mechanism of diabetic patients’ plantar pressure changes, the methods of releasing the abnormal plantar pressure are discussed, so as to prevent and treat the diabetic foot ulcers, and improve our understanding of it.
Diabetic foot is one of the serious complications of diabetic patients. It is caused by diabetes combined with different degrees of lower extremity vascular lesions and neuropathy, and the wound can not heal for a long time. The serious results can cause bone marrow infection, bone destruction, and have high disability and death rate. At present, there are various treatment methods for diabetic foot chronic wound. On the basis of internal medicine controlling blood sugar, anti infection, lowering blood lipid, improving microcirculation and nourishment nerve, the surgical method is adopted, including the debridement of the necrosis in a short time to prevent the infection from spreading; maggot biological debridement and ozone chemical debridement will promote the growth of granulation tissue while controlling infection. Skin grafting, skin flap transplantation, skin distraction closure can be used to repair soft tissue defects, or fat transplantation, platelet-rich plasma, and rich blood are used for the refractory wound after infection control. In patients with diabetic foot, the reconstruction of lower limb blood supply is beneficial to the recovery of chronic ischemic wounds. It is feasible to improve the blood supply of the lower extremities, improve the blood supply of the lower extremity artery bypass grafting, and improve the microcirculation of the peripheral vessels around the lower extremities. Lower extremity vascular bypass pressure perfusion therapy for vascular network expansion, tibia lateral moving technique for lower limb microcirculation reconstruction. For diabetic foot ulcer caused by peripheral neuropathy, such as Charcot foot, while the application of external fixator, total contact cast technology of affected foot for reducing treatment to promote wound healing; the preparation of orthopedic shoes can play a maximum protective effect on the healing of diabetic foot wound healing.
To investigate the surgical strategy of diabetic foot (DF) and analyze the therapeutic efficacy. Methods From July 2004 to July 2007, 36 patients (22 males and 14 females) with DF were treated, with an average age of 57 years(43-82 years). The disease course of diabetes was 3 months to 27 years(12 years on average) and the disease course of DF was 1 month to 2 years (7 months on average). According to Wagner classification of DF, there were 3 cases of grade 1, 12 cases of grade 2, 10 cases of grade 3, 7 cases of grade 4 and 4 cases of grade 5. The locations of ulcer were ankle and heel in 9 cases, medial part of foot in 14 cases, in lateral part of foot in 8 cases and sinus formation in 5 cases. The ulcer sizes ranged from 4 cm × 2 cm-18 cm × 9 cm. Initial management of these patients included control of blood sugar level, proper hydration, administration of antibiotics, treatment of coexisting diseases, and repeated debridements of wounds when necessary. Ulcers were treated with debridement and spl it skin transplantation in 3 cases of grade 1, with debridement and drainage of abcesses and spl it skin transplantation in 12 of grade 2, with debridement and transplantation of flap in 17 of grade 3 and grade 4, and with transplantation of fascial flap in 5 cases of sinus; ulcers were treated firstly with artery bypass of lower extremity, and then treated with local amputation of foot to avoid high-level amputation and to save more function of foot in 4 of grade 5. Results In 36 cases, wound in 31 cases (86.1%) cured primaryly, wound did not heal in 1 patient (2.1%) and received re-amputation, there were 2 deaths because of infection with multiple organ failure postoperatively. Twenty-nine cases were followed up 8 months (range, 6 -15 months). Eight patients developed new ulcers, with 3 lesions in situ and 5 lesions in new site. Conclusion Surgicalregimen could play an important role in treatment of diabetic foot. According to different grades of DF, there were differentstrategies in deal ing with the accompanied inflammation and ulcer. An active and comprehensive surgical treatment of DF could save the foot, avoid the high-level amputation and result in more functional extremity.
The annual incidence of diabetic foot ulcers in China is as high as 8.1%, which ranks first among the causes of chronic wounds in China. Although through the efforts of several generations of podiatrists and the building of multidisciplinary collaboration team, the major amputation rate in patients with diabetic foot ulcers in China has been decreased significantly, it is still far higher than the level of developed countries in Europe and the United States. Therefore, in order to cope with the increasing occurrence and recurrence of refractory diabetic foot ulcers, in addition to further optimizing the construction of multidisciplinary collaboration team, it is an urgent topic for us to explore the construction of a multidisciplinary integrated team to seamlessly connect the diagnosis and treatment of different aspects of foot disease. This article describes the importance and necessity of building a wound repair center with Chinese characteristics, which is a model of multidisciplinary integrated team, aiming at provide a theoretical basis for establishing a multidisciplinary integrated management model and realizing seamless connection between diagnosis and treatment, so as to further improve the cure rate of diabetic foot ulcers.
To investigate the change of bacterial load appl ied with iodophors and rivanol of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), furthermore to evaluate the effect of both in removing superficial microbes of DFUs. Methods From March 2006 to March 2007, 30 patients were randomly divided into control group (group A, n=10), iodophor group (group B, n=10) and rivanol group (group C, n=10). There were 18 males and 12 females with an average age of 59.8 years (range 46-78 years). The wound size ranged from 3 cm × 2 cm to 15 cm × 10 cm. The disease course was 6 weeks to 6 months (mean 2.1months). Each wound was debrided and irrigated before process, then drug was compressed on the wound for 5 minutes, and irrigated again. The samples gained for three times, before, immediately and 24 hours after the process. Each sample was diluted before cultivation, the bacteria of wound were counted and compared among 3 groups. Results The cultures of specimens showed that the load decreased in every group, each cultured colony of specimen grew well, and there were no significant differences between 3 groups immediately after procedure (P gt; 0.05). There were significant differences between group B and groups A, C (P lt; 0.05), but there were no significant difference between group A and group C 24 hours after treatment (P gt; 0.05). Conclusion Both iodophors and rivanol could remove the bacteria on the surface of wound. Topical germicide could reduced bacterial load in the wound of diabetic foot, the role of steril izing and bacteriostasis of iodophors were better than that of rivanol.
Objective To assess the effectiveness of intensive versus routine education on diabetes mellitus for preventing diabetic foot ulcer. Methods We electronically searched CENTRAL (Issue 1, 2013), PubMed (1978-2013), EMbase (1978-2013), VIP (1989-2013) and WanFang Data (1980-2013), hand-searched correlated proceedings and retrieved the references of included studies, for the randomized controlled trials on intensive versus routine education on diabetes mellitus for preventing diabetic foot ulcer all over the world. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results Twelve trials involving 1 841 patients were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: a) the incidence of diabetic foot ulcer in the intensive education group was lower than the routine group, with a significant difference (RR=0.51, 95%CI 0.30 to 0.84, P=0.008); b) two groups were alike in the amputation rate, with no significant difference (OR=0.54, 95%CI 0.17 to 1.67, P=0.28); and c) the score of knowledge on diabetes mellitus was higher in the intensive education group than in the routine education group, with a significant difference (MD=7.32, 95%CI 3.57 to 11.06, P=0.000 1). Conclusion Current evidence shows that: compared with routine education, intensive education could reduce the incidence of diabetic foot ulcer effectively. However, the above conclusion should be verified by conducting more high quality studies.
Objective To determine the effectiveness and safety of autologous platelet-rich gel in the management of diabetic foot ulcer. Methods We searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails (CENTRAL), MEDLINE or PubMed, EMbase, OVID Database, Chinese Biological Medicine Database (CBMDisc), CNKI, Chinese VIP Database and WANFANG Database. We also handsearched the bibliographies of retrieved articles and correlated proceedings. The systematic review was conducted using the method recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results Four trials involving 216 patients were included. Meta-analyses showed (1) Diabetic foot ulcer healing rate: Autologous platelet-rich gel was superior to the standard care (Plt;0.000 01); (2) Diabetic foot ulcer reduction rate: Autologous platelet-rich gel was superior to the standard care (P=0.000 3); (3) Diabetic foot ulcer healing time: Autologous platelet-rich gel was superior to the standard care (Plt;0.000 01); (4) Complications: No patient in these trials had complications. Conclusions The limited current evidence shows that autologous platelet-rich gel is safe and effective in the short-term treatment for diabetic foot ulcer.
Objective To investigate the effectiveness of free anterolateral thigh flap (ALTF) with fascia lata in repairing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) with bone exposure. Methods Between January 2019 and January 2021, 20 patients with DFUs with bone exposure were admitted. There were 17 males and 3 females with a median age of 57.5 years (range, 48-76 years). There were 10 cases of Wagner grade 3 and 10 cases of grade 4. The DFUs formed 1 to 14 months, with a median time of 3 months. The patients underwent CT angiography, which showed extensive atherosclerosis in both lower limbs; 6 of them were severely narrowed or occluded and underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. The size of wound ranged from 7 cm×6 cm to 27 cm×10 cm after applied first-stage debridement combined with vacuum sealing drainage treatment. In the second-stage, free ALTF with fascia lata was used to repair wounds and partial defects of tendons. The size of flap ranged from 8 cm×5 cm to 28 cm×11 cm. The wound of the donor site was sutured directly. The survival of the flap, the healing time of the wound, and the complications were recorded. The laser speckle blood flow imaging system was used to detect the blood perfusion of the flap and the skin around the flap at 2 weeks and 6 months after operation. The foot function was evaluated by American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score at 6 months after operation. Results After operation, effusion under the flap happened in 6 cases, which cured after symptomatic treatment. Flaps survived completely in 14 cases. The tissue necrosis at the edges of the flaps occurred in 3 cases and healed after dressing changes. Venous crisis of flaps occurred in 3 cases, of which 1 case was completely necrotic after exploration, and the other 2 cases were partially alive. The wounds of 3 cases were repaired with skin grafts after debridement and dressing. The flap survival rate was 95.0%, and the limb salvage rate was 100%. The wound healing time after flap transplantation was 14-30 days, with an average of 19.1 days. Two patients had recurrence of peripheral skin ulcers of the flaps within 1 month after healing, which healed after conservative dressing changes. Eighteen cases of incisions at donor site healed by first intention, 2 cases had local skin necrosis and healed by debridement and suture. All patients were followed up 6-30 months, with a median time of 11 months. The texture, appearance, and elasticity of the flaps were good. All patients could walk alone without pain. At 6 months after operation, the AOFAS score was 75.9±11.9, which was significantly different from that (44.7±18.4) before operation (t=−7.025, P=0.000). The blood perfusion value increased from (38.1±7.8) PU at 2 weeks to (42.7±10.3) PU, and the difference was significant (t=−4.680, P=0.001). Conclusion Free ALTF with fascia lata has a rich blood supply and a high survival rate. It can be used to repair DFUs with bone exposure. After the free skin flap healed, it can promote revascularization of the affected foot, reduce the probability of ulcer recurrence, and avoid amputation.