Good diabetes foot care can prevent amputations

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Following an initiative to provide better diabetes foot care in the South Tees area of northeastern England, the rates of diabetes-related amputations fell substantially, according to the results of a study published in the current issue of Diabetes Care.

Dr. Ronan J. Canavan, of St. Columcille's Hospital, Dublin, and colleagues identified all cases of leg amputations in the region from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 2000. Of the 454 leg amputations identified, (49 percent) were related to diabetes and 66 percent were in men.

Among diabetic patients, leg amputation rates decreased from 564.3 per 100,000 persons in the first year to 176.0 per 100,000 per persons in the fifth year. Over the same time period, leg amputations among non-diabetes increased from 12.3 to 22.8 per 100,000 persons, the researchers found.

"These diverging trends mark a significant improvement in care for patients with diabetic foot disease as a result of better organized diabetes care," Canavan's team writes.

"Our study shows the importance of including a non-diabetes-related leg amputation comparison," they add. "A case-control study would be an efficient approach to further explore the specific changes seen in our study."

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2008.