Change in the amputation profile in diabetic foot in a tertiary reference center: efficacy of team working

Diabetic foot is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus and the risk of lower extremity amputation is very high in this population when compared with people without diabetes. We have previously reported the lower-extremity amputation rate and significant factors in determining the risks for patients who had been admitted to Hacettepe University Hospital, a tertiary reference center for Turkey, between the years 1992 and 1996. In January 2000, a diabetic foot care team including an infectious diseases specialist, orthopaedic surgeons, endocrinologists, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, a radiologist, and a diabetic foot nurse was assembled. To determine whether a change has occurred in the rate and the risk factors of lower extremity amputations after the establishment of this team, medical records of 66 patients (39 men, 27 women) with diabetic foot who had been admitted to Hacettepe University Hospital between 2000 and 2002 have now been retrospectively analysed. The grade distribution of diabetic foot according to Wagner classification was quite similar in the two studies (grade 1: 0 % vs. 4.5 %, grade 2: 15.6 % vs. 19.7 %, grade 3: 48 % vs. 33.3 %, grade 4: 24.4 % vs. 30.3 %, grade 5: 11.5 % vs. 12.1 % in the former and current study, respectively). The overall amputation rate in the current study was 39.4 % (36.7 % in the former study). Ray amputation (35 %) and below-knee amputations (30 %) were the two most commonly applied procedures. The rates of Syme, above knee, other amputations (i.e., Boyd, talonavicular amputations and partial calcanectomy) were 8 %, 8 % and 19 %, respectively. These data suggest that amputation is still a frequently encountered outcome for our patients with diabetic foot, but the amputation profile has changed. The implementation of a diabetic foot care team has relatively decreased the rate of major amputations in an attempt for limb salvage to improve the quality of life of the patients. Presence of osteomyelitis, peripheral vascular disease and gangrene still remain as significant predictors of amputation in our population.