According to a survey conducted by the Chinese Diabetes Association in 2010, the incidence of diabetes in China is already as high as 9.7% – that is, there are nearly 100 million diabetics in China – and China has surpassed India as the number one country with diabetes. Such a large patient base inevitably indicates a large population of patients with diabetes-related complications, and the diabetic foot is one of the major complications of diabetes. The World Health Organization defines the diabetic foot as a combination of neuropathy and various degrees of peripheral vascular disease that leads to infection, ulcer formation and/or deep tissue destruction in the lower extremities of diabetic patients. In short, a diabetic foot is a vascular and neuropathic lesion of the lower extremities caused by diabetes mellitus. Overseas statistics show that the incidence of lower limb vasculopathy is 23% and 66.7% for those with diabetes 5-10 years and 10 years or more, respectively, and the incidence of neuropathy can be as high as 90% for those with diabetes 10 years or more. The formation mechanism of diabetic foot is mainly due to the abnormal changes in the function and structure of the vascular wall caused by the continuous high glycemic state of the blood, resulting in ischemic damage to the blood supply area, including the surrounding muscles, bones, nerves and other tissues, manifested as muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, abnormal sensation, and even skin ulcers. The reduced blood flow naturally affects the defense function of local tissues, so foot ulcers caused by diabetes are often prolonged and difficult to heal. In fact, such foot ulcers are not uncommon in clinical practice. 12%-25% of diabetic patients will develop foot ulcers during their lifetime, and 85% of diabetic patients will have their feet amputated because of persistent foot ulcers. Diabetic foot is clinically divided into 4 stages according to the severity of ischemic symptoms: Stage 1 patients have the mildest condition, feeling only coldness and numbness in the lower extremities and occasional leg cramps. The clinical consultation rate of patients in this stage is not high, and patients often do not pay attention to it or are misdiagnosed, thus delaying the disease; stage 2 patients gradually highlight the symptoms of lower limb ischemia, mostly manifesting as “intermittent claudication”, i.e. pain in the lower limbs after walking for a certain distance, and the pain can be relieved after being forced to rest for a while, and can continue walking, and so on and so forth. And as the degree of ischemia increases, the walking distance will be gradually shortened until “resting pain” appears – this is the clinical stage 3, which is characterized by persistent pain in the lower limbs at rest, especially obvious at night, and patients often sit on their knees all night, and have difficulty sleeping from the pain. Many patients do not come to the clinic until this stage, missing the best time for treatment and often facing the risk of amputation. At stage 4, the peripheral tissues are severely ischemic for a long time, resulting in blackening, ulceration and necrosis of the limb – commonly known as “old rotten feet”. The “old rotten foot” is stubborn and difficult to heal, and patients often lose confidence in the treatment, and eventually there is only one option – amputation. According to statistics, the amputation rate of diabetic foot is as high as 26.4%, ranking first among non-traumatic amputations. Every 30 seconds, a leg is amputated due to diabetes, and more than half of the amputees need a second amputation within five years. It is the vascular and neurological lesions of the lower extremities caused by diabetes that really need attention – they are the direct culprits affecting the quality of life of patients. The diabetic foot has become a heavy yoke on the body and mind of diabetic patients. What can we do? The diabetic foot is an interdisciplinary disease and its treatment requires multidisciplinary collaboration, including endocrinology, dermatology or orthopedics, orthopedics or orthopedics, vascular surgery, etc. Stabilization of blood glucose is undoubtedly the foundation of clinical treatment. Without effective control of blood glucose level, any other treatment is just “raising soup to stop the boiling”. At present, in addition to symptomatic treatments such as hypoglycemia, anti-infection and nerve nutrition, in view of the fact that diabetic foot is mainly a vascular lesion, vasodilatation, improvement of microcirculation, as well as decongestion and anticoagulation drugs have become the main conventional drugs. However, drug therapy alone cannot reverse the narrowing or occlusion of blood vessels, which requires a surgical approach. It is important to note that not all stenotic or occlusive lesions need to be treated. In clinical practice, the primary indication for surgical management is the patient’s symptoms, i.e., the ischemic symptoms have significantly affected his or her quality of life. Many patients do not have any clinical symptoms although they have stenosis or even occlusion, which is mainly due to the patient’s usual intentional or unconscious exercise, and the formation of abundant collateral branches around the lesioned vessel, which ensures the blood supply to the distal limb. Therefore, for patients with mild symptoms, encouraging exercise is also a very effective treatment method. In addition, as an objective assessment index of limb ischemia, the ankle-brachial index (ABI) is also an important reference for surgical management. If the ABI