Among the participants with an infected diabetic foot ulcer who participated in a recent study, more than half did not see their ulcer heal over a year’s time—and one in seven had to have part or all of their foot amputated.
Results of the study, conducted by researchers from University of Leeds and published in the journal Diabetic Medicine, underline the need for people at risk for foot ulcers to be closely monitored, notes a media release from the University of Leeds.
In the study, a team of researchers led by University of Leeds Professor Andrea Nelson tracked 299 people who had attended a diabetic clinic with an infected foot ulcer, and followed up with them a year later.
After the 1-year time period, one in seven people (17.4%) had part or all of their foot amputated. Among the others, less than half (45.5%) had seen their ulcer heal. The outcomes are worse than previously thought, the researchers suggest.
“Foot ulcers are a very nasty condition. They’re painful and are debilitating. People with foot ulcers have limited mobility, and that brings with it a whole set of other risk factors—obesity and heart disease, for example,” Nelson says.
“The key point is that people need to be seen quickly if an ulcer begins to form—that gives health workers the greatest chance of trying to treat the condition,” she stresses, in the release.
[Source(s): University of Leeds, Science Daily]
