What are Diabetic Foot Ulcers?
Diabetic Foot
ulcers are chronic, complex, or problem wounds of the legs and feet in people
with diabetes. Diabetic Foot
Ulcers that do not heal within three months are usually considered Chronic and
Non Healing. Research shows that approximately 15 percent of all diabetes
patients will develop foot ulcers at some point in their lives.
People with diabetes are particularly susceptible
to diabetic foot ulcers because diabetes can damage nerves in your legs and
feet causing problems with your blood flow, which in turn delays the process of
wound healing.
What are the causes of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Non
Healing Diabetic Wounds?
Diabetic foot ulcers are caused by repetitive
trauma or pressure on the foot that damage your skin. These problems can go
unnoticed by people with:
A) Peripheral
Neuropathy (numbness in your feet)
B) Vascular
Disease (poor blood circulation in your legs).
Peripheral Neuropathy: Nerve damage due to
diabetes causes altered or complete loss of feeling in the foot and/or leg.
This is known as peripheral neuropathy. Pressure from shoes, cuts, bruises, or
any injury to the foot may go unnoticed. The loss of protective sensation stops
the patient from being warned that the skin is being injured and may result in
skin loss, blisters and ulcers.
Vascular Disease: Vascular disease is also a major problem in
diabetes and especially affects very small blood vessels feeding the skin. The lack
of healthy blood flow may lead to ulceration, hence, wound healing is impaired.
Diabetes,
immobilization, chronic edema, and circulatory problems contribute to the
majority of chronic, non-healing wounds. Other chronic wounds are the result of
traumatic injury, non-healing surgical wounds etc.
A lack of
sufficient oxygen (hypoxia) in the wound bed slows or stops the normal healing
process. Wound healing in people with diabetes is often complicated by poor
blood circulation in the feet and legs.
Diabetic Foot Ulcers are prone to serious bacterial infections that
threaten life and limb.
How does one
know if he/she has
diabetic foot ulcer, Non-Healing
Wound ?
If a wound has
not improved significantly in four weeks or if it has not completed the healing
process in eight weeks, it should be considered a Chronic Wound and a Non
Healing wound.
In some
extreme cases, dead tissue builds up inside and around the ulcer, which
requires surgery to remove – a procedure called debridement. And if blood flow
becomes too restrictive, you may require bypass surgery to help re-open your
arteries. Rarely, diabetic ulcers become too infected or severe to treat.
As a last
resort, amputation may be needed to stop the infection from spreading
throughout the body. Half of amputations performed each year are related to
diabetic wounds.
Wound care
specialists classify diabetic foot ulcers using the Wagner Grade Scale:
Grade 0: No open lesions, but may possess pre ulcerative lesions, healed ulcers,
presence of bone deformity
Grade 1: Superficial ulcer, not involving subcutaneous tissue
Grade 2: Deep ulcer with penetration through the subcutaneous tissue,
potentially exposing bone, tendon, ligament, or joint capsule
Grade 3: Deep ulcer with osteitis (bone inflammation), abscess (pus), or
osteomyelitis (bone infection)
Grade 4: Gangrene of digit (toe)
Grade 5: Gangrene of foot requiring amputation
What is a
Wound Healing Center or A Diabetic Foot Care Center?
Plastic and reconstructive surgeons, vascular
surgeons, rehabilitation and hyperbaric physicians work together as an
integrated wound care team to cure problem wounds.
Successful care of problem wounds requires an integrated team approach
together with adjunct Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) when appropriate.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) offers
interdisciplinary outpatient care that is highly effective in healing wounds
that resist conventional therapies such as : Complex soft tissue wounds,
Diabetic foot ulcers, Arterial Ulcers, Venous stasis ulcers, Pressure ulcers,
Trauma Wounds, Skin Grafts and Flaps, Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections,
Burns, Neuropathic Ulcers, Tissue Damage from Radiation
How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps in Healing Diabetic Foot Ulcers
& Chronic Wounds?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) is the process of
breathing 100% oxygen in a carefully controlled, pressurized environment,
resulting in increased oxygen delivery to the body tissues. At pressures
greater than normal atmospheric pressure, the body is able to absorb more
oxygen into blood cell, blood plasma, cerebral spinal and other body fluids.
This increased oxygen activity enhances the body's ability to heal.
The increased oxygen
tension in tissues supports physiologic wound healing, decreasing edema,
enhances oxidative killing of bacteria, increasing cellular energy production,
antibiotic potentiation, neoangionenesis promotion, enhanced epithelial
migration, improved collagen production and granulation-tissue formulation.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) when used as an
adjunct treatment of modality can significantly improve morbidity and
mortality, reduce length of hospital stay, reduces the need for surgical
interventions, lessen the need for surgery or foot amputations, reduces
treatments costs, improves quality of life…
Hyperbaric oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) is an effective adjunct to
standard modalities for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers used in the
western world for over twenty years.
In India Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy ( HBOT ) has captured the
interests of wound care givers and podiatrists as their counterparts in the
western world and will become increasingly an adjunct treatment to provide
healing care for Diabetic Foot Ulcers in diabetic patients.
To Learn More Click This
link:
For requirement of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Chambers in India or to Locate a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Treatment Center near to you kindly contact:
BIRD MEDICAL DEVICES, MUMBAI, INDIA
Cell: 9769 484 123
(or) 9769 006 123 Tel: 91-22-65 655 123
(The content and information
provided within this site is for informational and educational purposes only.
Consult a medical doctor before pursuing any form of therapy, including
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. The Information provided within this site is not to
be considered Medical Advice.)
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