The Post-Healing Follow-Up of Diabetic Foot Ulcers by a Multidisciplinary Team to Reduce Their Recurrence: An...

Background: Diabetic foot disease is a public health problem. The challenges of its management lie in the complexity of wound healing and, in particular, the high rate of lesion recurrence. Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to evaluate whether optimized post-healing follow-up by a multidisciplinary team can reduce the recurrence rate of foot ulcers in people living with diabetes. The secondary objectives were to assess patient needs in terms of hospitalization for recurrence, the number of amputations, pedicure care, and the use of adapted footwear. Participants: The study included 129 patients with diabetes presenting a healed foot ulcer. A total of 38 patients underwent an annual post-healing follow-up visit with a multidisciplinary team (optimized follow-up), while 91 had a visit every 2 years (minimum follow-up). Results: Of the 38 patients with optimal follow-up, 8 presented a wound recurrence (21.1%) compared with 38 out of 91 patients (41.8%) receiving minimum follow-up. The recurrence rate decreased significantly between the two groups (p < 0.05). The use of adapted shoes was also significantly better in the group with optimized follow-up (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Regular post-healing follow-up with a multidisciplinary team seems to be a contributing factor to reducing the recurrence of diabetic foot ulcers among people living with diabetes.