[Usefulness of transcutaneous oximetry in detection of diabetic microangiopathy in lower limbs]

The purpose of the work was an assessment of the usefulness of transcutaneous measurement of O2 pressure in the foot (in recumbent position, recumbent with venostasis, elevated and erect position) for the detection of microcirculation disturbances in patients with diabetes mellitus. The studies included 43 patients with type I and II diabetes without haemodynamically significant stenoses of the axial arteries of the lower limbs, and a control group of 14. It was found that already in the period preceding the development of obliterative lesions in the arteries, microcirculation disturbances in the lower limbs became manifest causing statistically significant decrease of tcPO2 in patients with type I and II diabetes mellitus. The values of tcPO2 in position with limb elevation differentiate best these two groups of patients.