Nowadays, it is known to prevent diabetes, and when you have diabetes, you have to prevent complications, and diabetic foot is one of them. Diabetes causes foot infections, ulcers and/or deep tissue destruction due to arteriopathy and local nerve abnormalities in the lower extremities. It is called diabetic foot because it usually occurs in the foot.
Diabetic foot ulcers and infections progress to the point where amputation is an unavoidable tragedy for many patients. It is a serious complication of diabetes and is highly disabling and lethal. According to WHO 2003 data, there are about 200 million diabetic patients worldwide as one of the most common diseases, and diabetes is often associated with lower limb amputation in Western countries. The incidence is increasing at a rate of 2.5% per year, and for patients aged 65 to 74 years, combined diabetes increases the risk of amputation by a factor of 20. 20% of patients with diabetes will experience a diabetic foot during the course of their disease, and 33% will face amputation due to lower limb ischemia.
In the past, it was widely believed that diabetic foot was irreversible, and diabetic patients with diabetic foot usually went to internal medicine or orthopedics, which helped control blood sugar, while orthopedics dealt with ulcers and infections. However, with the development of endovascular interventional technology, such a concept needs to be changed.
Vascular lesions in the diabetic foot can be treated through vascular interventional procedures. Simply put, a catheter is inserted into the blood vessels of the lower extremities to show the vascular lesions, such as stenosis, occlusion, thromboembolism, etc., through imaging, and treat diabetic vascular lesions through balloon dilation technology, stent support technology and infusion of thrombolytic drugs through the catheter, so as to promote ulcer healing and resolve symptoms such as coldness, numbness and pain in the lower extremities. Intraluminal intervention is now accepted and recommended by a wide range of international experts.
Advantages of Interventional Interventional Therapy:
1. High treatment success rate: Interventional techniques can be successfully implemented in 85-90% of patients.
2, low treatment risk, few complications: the mortality rate of interventional treatment is almost zero, the main complications such as bleeding, vascular entrapment, etc. are significantly reduced with the improvement of the operator’s skills, and the chance of serious consequences of related complications is very small.
3, high rate of limb preservation after treatment: the use of interventional patients, the amputation rate is only 4%, and the amputation plane is significantly reduced; while patients who do not take active treatment, the amputation rate is as high as 33%, mostly high amputation.
4, the operation can be repeated: simple and safe operation when necessary (such as the occurrence of restenosis or re-occlusion) can easily repeat, also safe and effective.
5.The treatment effect is obvious: after the intervention, most patients’ clinical symptoms such as intermittent claudication and resting pain can be relieved to different degrees, and the healing of ischemic ulcers can be promoted.
6, is the only effective method for the treatment of infrapopliteal vascular occlusion: for infrapopliteal vascular occlusion, the patency rate of vascular bypass surgery is extremely low, drug therapy can not reverse the ischemic lesions caused by vascular occlusion, only interventional therapy can be used to reestablish blood flow directly to the lower leg through the lumen of the vessel, increasing the perfusion of blood to the foot, in order to achieve the purpose of relieving ischemia in the lower limbs.
7.Truly minimally invasive treatment: Compared with open surgery, which is extremely invasive, interventional treatment can be performed by puncture only, and recovery after treatment is fast.
8, interventional treatment only requires local anesthesia, with few side effects, without the various complications and risks of general anesthesia. It is more suitable for old and frail patients.
9.Early detection and early treatment: lower limb ischemic diseases have a long onset and are prone to recurrence, so early treatment through minimally invasive intervention is simple and has a high success rate, and can achieve better treatment results.
In patients with vascular occlusion, the disease usually follows this course. In the beginning, intermittent claudication occurs, which is manifested by the inability to walk long distances and the need to walk and take a break when the legs feel painful after walking for a while. In the second stage, not only walking will be painful, but also sitting will feel pain and some numbness, which will be properly relieved by massage with hands.
If it deteriorates further, the foot will ulcerate and the limb will gradually become necrotic. Many patients will also feel numbness and coldness in both legs, skin pigmentation and bruising, toenail deformation, hair loss, and even swelling, and they cannot feel the presence of both feet anymore. At the stage of intermittent claudication, treatment is most effective at this time if the patient is able to detect the condition.
Of course, not all diabetic foot can receive this surgery, patients should be alert to the development of the disease, grasp the appropriate timing of surgery, in principle, should be the earlier the better the treatment, the more delayed then the more serious the degree and length of vascular occlusion, the greater the difficulty of treatment, the worse the effect, surgical amputation will be difficult to avoid, and even threaten the lives of patients.
In addition to timely treatment, the daily care of diabetic foot is also very important.
Daily care of diabetic foot: Most of the time, we can reduce the chance of diabetic foot occurrence through general dietary control and care measures to protect the health of both feet.
1, timely detection and early treatment of diabetes, so that blood sugar control to near normal levels.
2, quit smoking, alcohol, and exercise in moderation.
3, adhere to the diabetic diet, and give low cholesterol, light and easy to digest diet, eat more green leafy vegetables.
4, pay attention to foot inspection and care, daily inspection of the back of the foot, the soles and toes, there is no rough, cracked, broken or blistered, there is no abnormal sensory parts, when there is an abnormality in time to seek medical advice.
5, pay attention to foot hygiene, wear soft and loose socks, do not walk barefoot or wear shoes, it is best not to wear leather shoes, to prevent the skin from being squeezed and wear injuries. Every time before wearing shoes should check whether there are nails and other foreign objects in the shoes, the soles are flat, the length of the shoes should be half an inch longer than the longest toe. Timely treatment of gray nails and other fungal infections of the foot.
6.If you find corns or calluses on the feet, you should consult a doctor promptly and check whether there are protrusions on the corresponding parts of the shoes.
7, in order to prevent diabetic foot, it is best to choose the shoes specifically for diabetic patients.
8, adhere to the daily foot wash, wash your feet every night with warm water and neutral soap (water temperature 37 ℃ -38 ℃), dry with an absorbent towel, and then evenly coated with protective oil on the foot, ulcerated wounds do not soak feet.
9, the usual foot can only keep warm, do not add heat. Prohibit the use of electric blankets or hot water bags, forbid the use of hot water to burn feet, available thick soft wool socks to keep warm, the foot should be appropriate exercise to increase blood flow.
10, prohibit irritating potions, each time you wash your feet or after bathing to keep the local dry.
11, trimming nails should not be too short, so as not to cause skin or nail furrows difficult to heal the infection.
12, when the diabetic foot flushing, cold, pain and swelling, should go to the hospital as soon as possible.
13, once the foot ulcers and even gangrene, should immediately seek medical advice.
In short, diabetic foot threatens the health of the legs of the majority of diabetic patients, and even the risk of amputation and even life-threatening, but through early awareness of the condition of diabetic patients, the strengthening of self-protection awareness, as well as a variety of doctor’s examination and treatment, early prevention, early detection and early treatment, you can try to avoid the tragedy. Therefore, once a diabetic patient develops local skin blisters, sensory loss, skin ulcers and other lesions, he or she should go to the hospital promptly, and the doctor will choose the appropriate examination and treatment according to the patient’s specific situation.