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.)
