Diabetic Foot Ulcer Complications and Its Management-a Medical College-Based Descriptive Study in Odisha, an Eastern...

The aim of this study was to prepare a profile of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) complications and its management and to assess the outcome of the surgical interventions. A prospective study was carried out in 60 patients with DFU during the period of January 2009 to October 2010 to categorize them based on Meggit-Wagner system and to find out the complications, management, below knee amputation rate, and mortality rate. Majority of the patients (30 %, n = 18) presented with Wegner grade 3 DFU. Only three patients (5 %) presented with grade 0 DFU. Split skin grafting was the most frequently done intervention, comprising 29 % of the time. Below knee amputation was required in 10 % of cases and mortality rate was 12 %. Lack of awareness about diabetes mellitus and its lower limb complications, poor compliance to the treatment, poorly controlled blood sugar levels, delay in diagnosis, and late presentation to the tertiary care center are all factors which led to occurrence of DFU at an age earlier than that seen in other studies.