Short-term foot complications in Charcot neuroarthropathy: A retrospective study in tertiary care centres in Spain

To assess the clinical characteristics of patients with Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) in Spain and to identify predictors for CN-related complications.

A retrospective study was conducted at five tertiary hospitals with diabetic foot care units in Spain. Data were collected from 83 patients, including demographic profiles, foot factors, diabetes characteristics, and presence of microvascular and macrovascular comorbidity, and a podiatric examination was also performed. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine significant predictors of the predefined clinical events.

Signs of diabetic neuropathy were found in almost all patients (98.9%) at the initial assessment, approximately half of them had diabetic retinopathy or nephropathy (61.5% and 51.8%, respectively), and peripheral artery disease was uncommon (8.6%). Thirty-eight patients (47.5%) experienced one or more relevant clinical events: 22 (27.5%) a new foot ulcer; 7 (8.7%) a major amputation; 20 (25%) were admitted to hospital; and 4 (5%) died. Only the presence of diabetic nephropathy was independently associated to development of any of the complications studied (p = 0.009; odds ratio = 3.37; 95% CI: 1.12-10.1).

Almost half the patients with CN attending specialised foot care units in tertiary hospitals experienced short-term CN-associated complications, and the risk was 3 times higher in those with a history of diabetic nephropathy.