Oration on diabetic foot remission held

 

Noting that diabetic foot complications are common and complex, David Armstrong, Professor of Surgery and Director, Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance, Keck School of Medicine, said that every 1.2 seconds, someone develops a diabetic foot ulcer and, every 20 seconds, someone with diabetes undergoes an amputation.

 

 

Delivering the 38th Prof. M. Viswanathan DRC Gold Medal Oration 2024 on ‘The Diabetic Foot in Remission: Towards More Ulcer-Free and Activity-Rich Days’ on Saturday, Dr. Armstrong pointed out that patients with diabetes could develop peripheral sensory neuropathy, peripheral motor neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, and peripheral artery disease.

 

 

He said that there was an increase in diabetic foot ulcers. Complications of diabetes that affect the lower extremities are common, complex, and costly, he added. Training the next generation of healthcare providers in wound care is the way forward, Dr. Armstrong noted.

 

 

Stressing the need to prevent recurrence, he said it could be through pressure (shoes and insoles) or internally by activity. Diabetic foot ulcer is a consequence of pressure activity imbalance, he said.

 

 

“Wounds tend to heat up before they break down,” he said, adding that there are now means to identify it in the early stages. There are devices for dosing activity based on the foot temperature. He listed out various devices, including ones that could measure plantar temperature and subtleties in inflammation.

 

 

On the occasion, Vijay Viswanathan, Head and Chief Diabetologist, M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and Professor M. Viswanathan Diabetes Research Centre, launched ‘Wound Clinic Training Programme’ to educate healthcare providers. This will cover clinical examination of diabetic foot, hands-on training on high-risk foot assessment as well as teach minor procedures such as callus removal, nail care, and basic wound care, a press release said.

 

 

Justice Gopinath Menon, Sitting Judge, High Court of Kerala, while addressing the gathering on ‘What society expects from doctors’, said that law, as well as society, do not expect a cure for every disease as treatment might differ as far as every patient is concerned. What is expected is a standard of care that the law requires doctors to deliver to patients, he said. He emphasised the importance of documentation at every level when a patient comes for treatment.

 

 

Lifetime achievement awards and an award for excellence in diabetic foot were presented. S.N. Narasingan, Dean, and Jayashree Gopal, Associate Dean of the institute, also spoke at the event.

 

 

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Oration on diabetic foot remission held, By The Hindu