Given the variety of potential complications with diabetic foot ulcers, these authors discuss keys to patient and wound assessment, and how appropriate surgical debridement can facilitate improved wound healing.

Topical therapies for diabetic foot ulcers run the gamut from dressings and negative pressure wound therapy to hypochlorous acid and an anti-inflammatory resin derived from bees. These authors discuss the efficacy of various topical agents and…

The goal of wound management is to attain cost effective wound closure to reestablish function.1 This is especially true with lower extremity wounds that are debilitating and often lead to a temporary or permanent disability.

Chronic wounds, typically defined as wounds that have not decreased in size by 50 percent after four to six weeks of treatment, are often accompanied by complications including peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease (PVD)…

The treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers is a challenging endeavor. Fortunately, medical advances continue to provide promising new technologies to aid physicians in healing difficult wounds. The properties and composition of placental…

At one point, limb loss due to diabetes occurred every 30 seconds. Recent research has reduced the figure to every 20 seconds.1-3 Eighty-five percent of lower limb amputations follow incidence of a diabetic foot ulcer and most are preventable.4,5…

Citing the availability, growth factor content and reduced risks in high-risk patients, this author says bioengineered alternative tissues are his first-line treatment for advanced wounds.

By Rodney Stuck, DPM