The role of microcirculatory techniques in patients with diabetic foot syndrome

Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is a frequent complication of long-standing diabetes mellitus, occurring in 10 to 30 percent of all diabetics with a vital risk for the affected limb and high mortality rates. Macroangiopathy, diabetic polyneuropathy and infections are trigger factors for DFS. Recent results imply a pathogenic role of functional and structural microcirculatory changes. The exact role of microangiopathy and the value of microcirculatory diagnostic methods in DFS have not yet been defined.

78 patients with DFS (28 type I, 50 type II diabetics, mean age 63 years) were evaluated with video capillary microscopy, transcutaneous partial oxygen tension (tcpO2) measurement and laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF) at the forefoot of the affected leg at admission and after revascularisation. Mean hospital stay was 28 +/- 11.7 days. Patients were stratified according to the etiology of DFS in patients with neuropathic lesions, macroangiopathic ulcers and mixed neuropathic-angiopathic lesions.

All groups had impaired microcirculation, and significant differences between groups were found in respect to capillary density. Reactive hyperemia, LDF pattern and tcpO2 did not differ significantly. Microcirculatory examinations did not yield additional information to clinical and Doppler sonographic results.

In clinical practice, the role of microcirculation evaluation techniques for diabetic foot syndrome is limited.