Podiatry Today

Electrical Stimulation: Can It Help Facilitate Wound Closure?

By Jonathan Rosenblum, DPM

While there are varied modalities available to help manage stubborn wounds, this author suggests that electrical stimulation may play an adjunctive role. Accordingly, he reviews the current literature, theories and practical application of electrical stimulation in wound care.

As the field of wound care progresses clinically from a focus on the gross and cellular levels to a better understanding of the subcellular and biochemical levels, our approach to treatment has progressed from passive dressing modalities to advanced wound care products including mechanically driven wound care modalities.

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Study Examines Effect Of Smoking On Elective Foot Surgery

By Brian McCurdy, Senior Editor

Although studies have previously shown a link between smoking cigarettes and delayed bone healing, research has until now been scarce on the effects of smoking on elective foot surgery. A recent study in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery finds that bone healing can take as much as 42 percent longer in patients who smoke.

Researchers analyzed 46 patients who had undergone Austin bunionectomies and separated the patients into three groups according to nicotine use. Seventeen patients were smokers, 12 were secondhand smokers and 17 did not smoke as measured by the standardized modified Fagerstrom test and a urine test. The study determined bone healing with the use of post-op radiographs.

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