What are Diabetic Foot Ulcers?
Diabetic Foot ulcers are chronic, complex, or
problem wounds of the legs and feet in people with diabetes. Diabetic Foot Ulcers that do not heal within
three months are usually considered Chronic and Non Healing. Research shows
that approximately
15 percent of all diabetes patients will develop foot ulcers at some point in
their lives. People with diabetes are particularly
susceptible to diabetic foot ulcers because diabetes can damage nerves in your
legs and feet causing problems with your blood flow, which in turn delays the
process of wound healing.
What are
the causes of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Non Healing Diabetic Wounds?
Diabetic foot ulcers are caused by
repetitive trauma or pressure on the foot that damage your skin. These problems
can go unnoticed by people with Neuropathy (numbness in your feet) or
Peripheral Vascular Disease (poor blood circulation in your legs). Diabetes, immobilization, chronic edema, and circulatory problems contribute to
the majority of chronic, non-healing wounds. Other chronic wounds are the
result of traumatic injury, non-healing surgical wounds etc.
A lack of sufficient oxygen (hypoxia) in the
wound bed slows or stops the normal healing process. Wound healing in people
with diabetes is often complicated by poor blood circulation in the feet and
legs. Diabetic Foot Ulcers are prone to
serious bacterial infections that threaten life and limb.
How
do I know if I have a Chronic,
Non-Healing Wound?
If a wound has not improved significantly in four weeks or
if it has not completed the healing process in eight weeks, it should be
considered a Chronic Wound and a Non Healing wound.
In some extreme cases, dead tissue builds up inside and around the
ulcer, which requires surgery to remove – a procedure called debridement. And
if blood flow becomes too restrictive, you may require bypass surgery to help
re-open your arteries. Rarely, diabetic ulcers become too infected or severe to
treat.
As a last resort, amputation may be needed to stop the infection from
spreading throughout the body. Half of
amputations performed each year are related to diabetic wounds.
Wound care specialists classify diabetic
foot ulcers using the Wagner Grade Scale:
o
Grade 0: no open
lesions, but may possess pre ulcerative lesions, healed ulcers, presence of
bone deformity
o
Grade 1: superficial
ulcer, not involving subcutaneous tissue
o
Grade 2: deep ulcer
with penetration through the subcutaneous tissue, potentially exposing bone,
tendon, ligament, or joint capsule
o
Grade 3: deep ulcer
with osteitis (bone inflammation), abscess (pus), or osteomyelitis (bone
infection)
o
Grade 4: gangrene of
digit (toe)
o
Grade 5: gangrene of
foot requiring disarticulation (amputation)
What is a Wound Healing Center or A Diabetic Foot Care
Center?
Plastic and
reconstructive surgeons, vascular surgeons, rehabilitation and hyperbaric
physicians work together as an integrated wound care team to cure problem
wounds.
Successful care of problem wounds requires an integrated
team approach together with adjunct Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) when appropriate.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) offers interdisciplinary outpatient care that is highly effective in
healing wounds that resist conventional therapies in cases such as: Complex Soft Tissue Wounds, Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Arterial Ulcers, Venous
Stasis Ulcers, Pressure Ulcers, Trauma Wounds, Skin Grafts and
Flaps, Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections, Burns, Neuropathic Ulcers, Tissue
Damage from Radiation …
How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps in Healing Diabetic Foot Ulcers
& Chronic Wounds?
Hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy (HBOT)
is the process of breathing 100% oxygen in a carefully controlled, pressurized
environment, resulting in increased oxygen delivery to the body tissues. At
pressures greater than normal atmospheric pressure, the body is able to absorb
more oxygen into blood cell, blood plasma, cerebral spinal and other body
fluids. This increased oxygen activity enhances the body's ability
to heal.
The increased
oxygen tension in tissues supports physiologic wound healing, decreasing edema,
enhances oxidative killing of bacteria, increasing cellular energy production,
antibiotic potentiation, neoangionenesis promotion, enhanced epithelial
migration, improved collagen production and granulation-tissue formulation.
Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) when used as an
adjunct treatment of modality can significantly improve morbidity and
mortality, reduce length of hospital stay, reduces the need for surgical
interventions, lessen the need for surgery or foot amputations, reduces treatments
costs, improves quality of life…
Hyperbaric oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is an
effective adjunct to standard modalities for the treatment of diabetic foot
ulcers used in the western world for over twenty years.
In India Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has captured the
interests of wound care givers and podiatrists as their counterparts in the
western world and will become increasingly an adjunct treatment to provide
healing care for Diabetic Foot Ulcers in diabetic patients.
To Learn More
Click This link: http://indiahbot.com/whatishbot.html
For requirement
of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Chambers in
India or To Locate a
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treatment Center near to you kindly contact:
BIRD
MEDICAL DEVICES, MUMBAI, INDIA
Cell: 9769 484 123 (or)
9769 006 123 Tel: 91-22-65 655
123
(The content and information provided within
this site is for informational and educational purposes only. Consult a medical
doctor before pursuing any form of therapy, including Hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy. The Information provided within this site is not to be considered
Medical Advice.)
