Diabetic foot syndrome: detection, treatment and prevention
Summary
- DFS is a complication of diabetes.
- 2-10% of people with diabetes have DFS.
- 30-40% of DFS patients suffer from nervous disorders. They often feel no pain and therefore do not have the foot treated.
- Half of people with DFS also suffer from PAD
- Severe cases can result in limb amputation.
Diabetic Foot Syndrome
When we speak of diabetic foot syndrome, we mean all pathological changes in the foot of a person suffering from diabetes mellitus and diabetic polyneuropathy. The diabetic foot syndrome usually manifests itself in the form of wounds or gangrene (gangrene). The diabetic foot is a direct, serious complication of diabetes and usually progressively worsens the patient's health. Prevention is extremely important for this disease.
While the number of leg amputations in diabetes patients is declining in Germany, diabetic foot syndrome is still relatively common. Two to ten percent of all people with diabetes also suffer from DFS. If these wounds do not heal, this can lead to forced foot or even leg amputation in the long term.
There are three main factors that affect diabetic foot syndrome:
- Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage)
- Foot circulation problems
- Bacterial infections
Approx. 30-40 percent of DFS patients have a nervous disorder. As a result, they often hardly notice the pain on the feet or even not at all. The absence of any pain as a warning sign is often misleading for patients and they think the wound would not be a big deal. This can also lead to doctors making misdiagnoses.
