Diabetic muscle infarction: a systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Musculoskeletal Medicine
• Radiology

Background:

• Diabetic muscle infarction (DMI) is a rare complication of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, with fewer than 200 cases reported in over 45 years.
• No established standard of care exists for managing DMI patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize available literature on the diagnosis and management of diabetic muscle infarction.
• To identify clinically relevant trends and findings in DMI cases.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed for 'diabetic muscle infarction' and 'diabetic myonecrosis' up to July 2014.
• Detailed review of all available English-language articles, prioritizing case reports and series due to lack of higher-order studies.

Main Results:

• The literature on DMI primarily consists of case reports and small case series, lacking prospective or higher-order treatment studies.
• An evidence-based synthesis was challenging due to the nature of available data.
• Clinical trends in DMI diagnosis and management were extracted from the reviewed literature.

Conclusions:

• Early recognition of diabetic muscle infarction is crucial for timely and effective treatment.
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the preferred diagnostic imaging modality for DMI.
• A management approach combining bed rest, improved glycemic control, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with faster symptom resolution and reduced recurrence risk.