Context:Among persons diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus, the prevalence of foot ulcers is 4%to 10%, the annual population-based incidence is 1.0%to 4.1 %, and the lifetime incidence may be as high as 25%. These ulcers frequently b ecome infected, cause great morbidity, engender considerable financial costs, an d are the usual first step to lower extremity amputation. Objective:To systemat ically review the evidence on the efficacy of methods advocated for preventing d iabetic foot ulcers in the primary care setting. Data Sources, Study Selection, and Data Extraction:The EBSCO, MEDLINE, and the National Guideline Clearinghous e databases were searched for articles published between January 1980 and April 2004 using database-specific keywords. Bibliographies of retrieved articles wer e also searched, along with the Cochrane Library and relevant Web sites. We revi ewed the retrieved literature for pertinent information, paying particular atten tion to prospective cohort studies and randomized clinical trials. Data Synthesi s:Prevention of diabetic foot ulcers begins with screening for loss of protecti ve sensation, which is best accomplished in the primary care setting with a brie f history and the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament. Specialist clinics may quantif y neuropathy with biothesiometry, measure plantar foot pressure, and assess lowe r extremity vascular status with Doppler ultrasound and ankle-brachial blood pr essure indices. These measurements, in conjunction with other findings from the history and physical examination, enable clinicians to stratify patients based o n risk and to determine the type of intervention. Educating patients about prope r foot care and periodic foot examinations are effective interventions to preven t ulceration. Other possibly effective clinical interventions include optimizing glycemic control, smoking cessation, intensive podiatric care, debridement of c alluses, and certain types of prophylactic foot surgery. The value of various ty pes of prescription footwear for ulcer prevention is not clear. Conclusions:Sub stantial evidence supports screening all patients with diabetes to identify thos e at risk for foot ulceration. These patients might benefit from certain prophyl actic interventions, including patient education, prescription footwear, intensi ve podiatric care, and evaluation for surgical interventions.

Preventing foot ulcers in patients with diabetes

Background Foot complications are considered to be a serious consequence of diabetes mellitus, posing a major medical and economical threat. Identifying the extent of this problem and its risk factors will enable health providers to set up better prevention programs. Saudi National Diabetes Registry (SNDR), being a large database source, would be the best tool to evaluate this problem. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of a cohort of 62,681 patients aged ≥ 25 years from SNDR database, selected for studying foot complications associated with diabetes and related risk factors. Results The overall prevalence of diabetic foot complications was 3.3% with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of (3.16%-3.44%), whilst the prevalences of foot ulcer, gangrene, and amputations were 2.05% (1.94%-2.16%), 0.19% (0.16%-0.22%), and 1.06% (0.98%-1.14%), respectively. The prevalence of foot complications increased with age and diabetes duration predominantly amongst the male patients. Diabetic foot is more commonly seen among type 2 patients, although it is more prevalent among type 1 diabetic patients. The Univariate analysis showed Charcot joints, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), neuropathy, diabetes duration ≥ 10 years, insulin use, retinopathy, nephropathy, age ≥ 45 years, cerebral vascular disease (CVD), poor glycemic control, coronary artery disease (CAD), male gender, smoking, and hypertension to be significant risk factors with odds ratio and 95% CI at 42.53 (18.16-99.62), 14.47 (8.99-23.31), 12.06 (10.54-13.80), 7.22 (6.10-8.55), 4.69 (4.28-5.14), 4.45 (4.05-4.89), 2.88 (2.43-3.40), 2.81 (2.31-3.43), 2.24 (1.98-2.45), 2.02 (1.84-2.22), 1.54 (1.29-1.83), and 1.51 (1.38-1.65), respectively. Conclusions Risk factors for diabetic foot complications are highly prevalent; they have put these complications at a higher rate and warrant primary and secondary prevention programs to minimize morbidity and mortality in addition to economic impact of the complications. Other measurements, such as decompression of lower extremity nerves, should be considered among diabetic patients.

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Diabetic foot complications and their risk factors from a large retrospective cohort study.

Background

Prevention of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes is extremely important to help reduce the enormous burden of foot ulceration on both patient and health resources. A comprehensive analysis of reported interventions is not currently available, but is needed to better inform caregivers about effective prevention. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent first and recurrent foot ulcers in persons with diabetes who are at risk for ulceration. 

Methods

The available medical scientific literature in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane database was searched for original research studies on preventative interventions. Both controlled and non-controlled studies were selected. Data from controlled studies were assessed for methodological quality by two independent reviewers. 

Results

From the identified records, a total of 30 controlled studies (of which 19 RCTs) and another 44 non-controlled studies were assessed and described. Few controlled studies, of generally low to moderate quality, were identified on the prevention of a first foot ulcer. For the prevention of recurrent plantar foot ulcers, multiple RCTs with low risk of bias show the benefit for the use of daily foot skin temperature measurements and consequent preventative actions, as well as for therapeutic footwear that demonstrates to relieve plantar pressure and that is worn by the patient. To prevent recurrence, some evidence exists for integrated foot care when it includes a combination of professional foot treatment, therapeutic footwear and patient education; for just a single session of patient education, no evidence exists. Surgical interventions can be effective in selected patients, but the evidence base is small. 

Conclusion

The evidence base to support the use of specific self-management and footwear interventions for the prevention of recurrent plantar foot ulcers is quite strong, but is small for the use of other, sometimes widely applied, interventions and is practically nonexistent for the prevention of a first foot ulcer and non-plantar foot ulcer.

Prevention of foot ulcers in the at-risk patient with diabetes: A systematic review

Recommendations - 1 To identify a person with diabetes at risk for foot ulceration, examine the feet annually to seek evidence for signs or symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and peripheral artery disease. (GRADE strength of recommendation: strong; Quality of evidence: low) - 2 In a person with diabetes who has peripheral neuropathy, screen for a history of foot ulceration or lower-extremity amputation, peripheral artery disease, foot deformity, pre-ulcerative signs on the foot, poor foot hygiene and ill-fitting or inadequate footwear. (Strong; Low) - 3 Treat any pre-ulcerative sign on the foot of a patient with diabetes. This includes removing callus, protecting blisters and draining when necessary, treating ingrown or thickened toe nails, treating haemorrhage when necessary and prescribing antifungal treatment for fungal infections. (Strong; Low) - 4 To protect their feet, instruct an at-risk patient with diabetes not to walk barefoot, in socks only, or in thin-soled standard slippers, whether at home or when outside. (Strong; Low) - 5 Instruct an at-risk patient with diabetes to daily inspect their feet and the inside of their shoes, daily wash their feet (with careful drying particularly between the toes), avoid using chemical agents or plasters to remove callus or corns, use emollients to lubricate dry skin and cut toe nails straight across. (Weak; Low) - 6 Instruct an at-risk patient with diabetes to wear properly fitting footwear to prevent a first foot ulcer, either plantar or non-plantar, or a recurrent non-plantar foot ulcer. When a foot deformity or a pre-ulcerative sign is present, consider prescribing therapeutic shoes, custom-made insoles or toe orthosis. (Strong; Low) - 7 To prevent a recurrent plantar foot ulcer in an at-risk patient with diabetes, prescribe therapeutic footwear that has a demonstrated plantar pressure-relieving effect during walking (i.e. 30% relief compared with plantar pressure in standard of care therapeutic footwear) and encourage the patient to wear this footwear. (Strong; Moderate) - 8 To prevent a first foot ulcer in an at-risk patient with diabetes, provide education aimed at improving foot care knowledge and behaviour, as well as encouraging the patient to adhere to this foot care advice. (Weak; Low) - 9 To prevent a recurrent foot ulcer in an at-risk patient with diabetes, provide integrated foot care, which includes professional foot treatment, adequate footwear and education. This should be repeated or re-evaluated once every 1 to 3 months as necessary. (Strong; Low) - 10 Instruct a high-risk patient with diabetes to monitor foot skin temperature at home to prevent a first or recurrent plantar foot ulcer. This aims at identifying the early signs of inflammation, followed by action taken by the patient and care provider to resolve the cause of inflammation. (Weak; Moderate) - 11 Consider digital flexor tenotomy to prevent a toe ulcer when conservative treatment fails in a high-risk patient with diabetes, hammertoes and either a pre-ulcerative sign or an ulcer on the distal toe. (Weak; Low) - 12 Consider Achilles tendon lengthening, joint arthroplasty, single or pan metatarsal head resection, or osteotomy to prevent a recurrent foot ulcer when conservative treatment fails in a high-risk patient with diabetes and a plantar forefoot ulcer. (Weak; Low) - 13 Do not use a nerve decompression procedure in an effort to prevent a foot ulcer in an at-risk patient with diabetes, in preference to accepted standards of good quality care. (Weak; Low)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/dmrr.2696

IWGDF guidance on the prevention of foot ulcers in at-risk patients with diabetes.

Prevention of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes is extremely important to help reduce the enormous burden on both patient and health resources. A comprehensive analysis of reported interventions is not currently available, but is needed to better inform caregivers about effective prevention. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent first and recurrent foot ulcers in persons with diabetes who are at-risk for ulceration. The available medical scientific literature in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane database was searched for original research studies on preventative interventions. Both controlled and non-controlled studies were selected. Data from controlled studies were assessed for methodological quality by two independent reviewers, and extracted and presented in evidence and risk of bias tables. From the identified records, a total of 30 controlled studies (of which 19 RCTs) and another 44 non-controlled studies were assessed and described. Few controlled studies, of generally low to moderate quality, were identified on the prevention of a first foot ulcer. For the prevention of recurrent plantar foot ulcers, multiple RCTs with low risk of bias show the benefit for the use of daily foot skin temperature measurements and consequent preventative actions, as well as for therapeutic footwear that demonstrates to relieve plantar pressure and that is worn by the patient. To prevent recurrence, some evidence exists for integrated foot care when it includes a combination of professional foot treatment, therapeutic footwear and patient education; for just a single session of patient education, no evidence exists. Surgical interventions can be effective in selected patients, but the evidence base is small. The evidence base to support the use of specific self-management and footwear interventions for the prevention of recurrent plantar foot ulcers is quite strong, but is small for the use of other, sometimes widely applied, interventions, and is practically non-existent for the prevention of a first foot ulcer and non-plantar foot ulcer. More controlled studies of high quality are needed in these areas.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dmrr.2701

Prevention of foot ulcers in the at-risk patient with diabetes: a systematic review

This is the first multicenter prospective study of outcomes of tibial neurolysis in diabetics with neuropathy and chronic compression of the tibial nerve in the tarsal tunnels. A total of 38 surgeons enrolled 628 patients using the same technique for diagnosis of compression, neurolysis of four medial ankle tunnels, and objective outcomes: ulceration, amputation, and hospitalization for foot infection. Contralateral limb tibial neurolysis occurred in 211 patients for a total of 839 operated limbs. Kaplan-Meier proportional hazards were used for analysis. New ulcerations occurred in 2 (0.2%) of 782 patients with no previous ulceration history, recurrent ulcerations in 2 (3.8%) of 57 patients with a previous ulcer history, and amputations in 1 (0.2%) of 839 at risk limbs. Admission to the hospital for foot infections was 0.6%. In patients with diabetic neuropathy and chronic tibial nerve compression, neurolysis can result in prevention of ulceration and amputation, and decrease in hospitalization for foot infection.

/pdf/prevention-of-ulceration-amputation-and-reduction-of-11iwtlfpj0.pdf

Prevention of ulceration, amputation, and reduction of hospitalization: outcomes of a prospective multicenter trial of tibial neurolysis in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

Predictive ability of a positive Tinel sign over the tibial nerve in the tarsal was evaluated as a prognostic sign in determining sensory outcomes after distal tibial neurolysis in diabetics with chronic nerve compression at this location. Outcomes were evaluated with a visual analog score (VAS) for pain and measurements of the cutaneous pressure threshold/two-point discrimination. A multicenter prospective study enrolled 628 patients who had a positive Tinel sign. Of these patients, 465 (74%) had VAS >5. Each patient had a release of the tarsal tunnel and a neurolysis of the medial and lateral plantar and calcaneal tunnels. Subsequent, contralateral, identical surgery was done in 211 of the patients (152 of which had a VAS >5). Mean VAS score decreased from 8.5 to 2.0 (p <0.001) at 6 months, and remained at this level for 3.5 years. Sensibility improved from a loss of protective sensation to recovery of some two-point discrimination during this same time period. It is concluded that a positive Tinel sign over the tibial nerve at the tarsal tunnel in a diabetic patient with chronic nerve compression at this location predicts significant relief of pain and improvement in plantar sensibility.

/pdf/a-positive-tinel-sign-as-predictor-of-pain-relief-or-sensory-ubcgbg2110.pdf

A positive Tinel sign as predictor of pain relief or sensory recovery after decompression of chronic tibial nerve compression in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

Wellens-Bruschayt Ta

Papers

Prevention of ulceration, amputation, and reduction of hospitalization: outcomes of a prospective multicenter trial of tibial neurolysis in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

A positive Tinel sign as predictor of pain relief or sensory recovery after decompression of chronic tibial nerve compression in patients with diabetic neuropathy.