What Is New In DFU (Diabetic Foot Ulcer)?

New Concepts In Diabetes Foot Care Management.

Till now the treatment of diabetic foot was usually started once ulcer formation happens. Once ulcer forms even then also the concepts of ulcer healing were age-old. The whole concentration was on ulcer healing. It can be done using non-weight-bearing casts, various footwears and debridements with either skin grafts or flaps. 

But all these healed ulcers recur once patients start walking on that foot. Nothing significant was done to prevent ulcer recurrence until now. Various footwears were given to patients for prevention of ulcer recurrence but in our culture where we don't wear chappals in home, kitchen and temples it is really difficult for patients to be compliant 100 % to these footwears. So the ulcer recurrence was significant and the patients also lost trust in ulcer healing methods. The complications of ulcers namely osteomyelitis, loss of toes or foot, gangrene, cellulitis and amputation or death were common.

The new era of treatment of diabetic foot care started recently. Dr Ashutosh Shah is one of the early doctors who have been trained in new modalities of ulcer healing as well as its recurrence prevention. Now the doctors have understood the biomechanics of ulcer formation. They have found out various causes of uneven high-pressure point formation. They Have even devised various procedures also to heal the ulcer by modifying the biomechanics of the foot. so the ulcer now heals with minimal interventions and remains healed for long without a significant recurrence rate. 

These procedures will include various tendon transfers, joint fusions and simple minimally invasive procedures for foot. This is called Surgical Offloading or internal offloading - splinting. 

Advantage Of Internal Offloading:

1. This will avoid the use of external splints or non-weight bearing footwear

or makes its use limited. 

2. Now with these procedures, it's easy to maintain the footwear whenever necessary. You don't need to wear them for 24 hours.

3. Even once the ulcer remains healed will boost up the confidence of patients and make them more cooperative to the treatments.

4. Even their repeated expenses have been reduced and the financial burden has also gone away

5. Even the chances of foot or toe loss are minimal with these procedures and gait also improves.

Dr Ashutosh Shah has mastered these techniques and learned the intricacies of such ulcer treatment in detail. He is the pioneer in such treatment in Gujarat. Surat Diabetic Foot Care Centrer is one of the first of its kind in the whole Gujarat.