Diabetic Foot Infection

Foot infection is a major reason for hospitalization among patients with diabetes and also an important causal factor for lower limb amputation. There are various presentations of diabetic foot infections as well as several ways to classify these entities.


Preventation of Diabetic foot Infection

Diabetic foot infection is prevente by frequent chiropody review, good foot hygiene, diabetics socks and shoes, and avoiding injury.

a. Foot-care education combined with increased surveillance can reduce the incidence of serious foot lesions.

b. Footwear. Special footwears are recommended for patients with a prior ulcer or with foot deformities. One review added neuropathy as an indication for special footwear. The comparison of custom shoes versus well-chosen and well-fitted athletic shoes is not clear. A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that "there is very limited evidence of the effectiveness of therapeutic shoes" . The date of the literature search for this review is not clear. Clinical Evidence reviewed the topic and concluded "Individuals with significant foot deformities should be considered for referral and assessment for customised shoes that can accommodate the altered foot anatomy. In the absence of significant deformities, high quality well fitting non-prescription footwear seems to be a reasonable option" . National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has reviewed the topic and concluded that for patients at "high risk of foot ulcers (neuropathy or absent pulses plus deformity or skin changes or previous ulcer" that "specialist footwear and insoles" should be provided.


Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections

Diabetic foot infections should be managed with a multidisciplinary team approach utilizing appropriate consultations. Hospitalization of patients with limb-threatening infections is mandatory. All diabetic foot infections must be monitored closely. Equally important for the best possible outcome are patient compliance and education, especially in outcome management.

You can visit internal medicine residency teaching for more details on diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of patient for the students and nurses.