Diabetic Foot: Treating and Preventing the Possibility of Major Amputation

Abstract

Diabetic foot is functionality and integrity damage of the foot due to infection, tissue damage and destruction, damage to nerves and blood vessels in the peripheral parts of the lower extremities. Given that the relatively large number of patients to whom complications are developed to toe due to diabetes, it can be concluded that a diabetic foot represents health, as well as social and economic problem. Increasing numbers of patients is becoming even more alarming. According to WHO it is expected that the number of new cases will double and that from 135 million to approximately 300 million. This as a whole depends on unhealthy food, obesity and disordered way of food. This as a whole makes the treatment reach the account for millions of dollars. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how to deal with diabetic foot in the clinical vascular surgery at the University Clinical Center (UCC) in Prishtina and the importance of minor amputation as the primary surgical treatment of choice in order to maintain the function of the plantar. The present paper analyzed 94 patients, 72 males and 22 females, aged 30-80 years, with diabetic foot, hospitalized in the Vascular Surgery Clinic in Prishtina (UCC) during 2012-2013. It is analyzed: surgical treatment, the wound gauze, days of hospitalization, vascular status, type of diabetes. Treatment of hospitalized patients is done with daily toilets of the wound or surgical intervention with aggressive surgical debridman to amputation, with local or general anesthesia. Daily toilets is made of 18 cases (19.1%) while with the incision and necrectomy were treated 22 patients (23.4%). Finger amputation of the leg is made in 37 cases (39.36%), while in the more advanced cases, 11 patients (11.70%) amputation was carried out in the crural region and with 6 patients (6.38%) amputation was carried out in the femoral region. Early identification of risk factors, and careful evaluation of regular and aggressive treatment of the wound in multidisciplinary team offer prevention of amputation in most cases of diabetic foot ulcera.

Keywords: diabetic foot, surgical treatment.