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Both vascular surgeons and podiatric physicians care for patients with diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs), one of today's most challenging health-care populations in the United States. The prevalence of DFUs has steadily increased, along with the rising costs associated with care. Because of the numerous comorbidities affecting these patients, it is necessary to take a multidisciplinary approach in the management of these patients. Such efforts, primarily led by podiatric physicians and vascular surgeons, have been shown to effectively decrease major limb loss. Establishing an interprofessional partnership between vascular surgery and podiatric medicine can lead to an improvement in the delivery of care and outcomes of this vulnerable patient population.
Pseudoaneurysms are created by a traumatic or iatrogenic perforation of an artery, resulting in accumulation of blood between the two outermost layers of a blood vessel, the tunica media and tunica adventitia. Pedal artery pseudoaneurysms are an extremely uncommon complication of foot and ankle surgery; therefore, few cases have been reported in the literature. Early diagnosis is important to ensure timely treatment of this condition. Once clinical suspicion has been established, urgent referral to the vascular surgery clinic for prompt surgical evaluation is required to prevent potentially harmful sequelae. We present the case of a 70-year-old woman who developed a pseudoaneurysm of the dorsalis pedis artery 33 days after undergoing open reduction and internal fixation of a second metatarsal fracture. Her treatment included urgent referral to the vascular surgery clinic with subsequent surgical repair of the pseudoaneurysm by means of ligation of the medial dorsal branch of the dorsalis pedis artery. At 10-month follow-up, she denied any pain, sensory deficits, or functional disability and had returned to all preinjury activities, with no recurrence of the pseudoaneurysm. Our case study demonstrates early diagnosis and successful treatment of a pseudoaneurysm of the dorsalis pedis artery that developed shorty after open reduction and internal fixation of a second metatarsal fracture.
This practice memo, a collaborative effort between the Young Physicians' Program of the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and the Young Surgeons Committee of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), is intended to aid podiatrists and vascular surgeons in the early years of their respective careers, especially those involved in the care of patients with chronic wounds. During these formative years, learning how to successfully establish an inter-professional partnership is crucial in order to provide the best possible care to this important patient population.
Toe and Flow
Essential Components and Structure of the Amputation Prevention Team
At the end of an anatomical peninsula, the foot in diabetes is prone to short- and long-term complications involving neuropathy, vasculopathy, and infection. Effective management requires an interdisciplinary effort focusing on this triad. Herein, we describe the key factors leading to foot complications and the critical skill sets required to assemble a team to care for them. Although specific attention is given to a conjoined model involving podiatric medicine and vascular surgery, the so-called toe and flow model, we further outline three separate programmatic models of care—basic, intermediate, and center of excellence—that can be implemented in the developed and developing world. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 100(5): 342–348, 2010)
Background
Diabetic foot ulcers combined with ischemia and infection can be difficult to treat. Few studies have quantified the level of blood supply and infection control required to treat such complex diabetic foot ulcers. We aimed to propose an index for ischemia and infection control in diabetic chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) with forefoot osteomyelitis.
Methods
We retrospectively evaluated 30 patients with diabetic CLTI combined with forefoot osteomyelitis who were treated surgically from January 2009 to December 2016. After 44 surgeries, we compared patient background (age, sex, hemodialysis), infection status (preoperative and 1- and 2-week postoperative C-reactive protein [CRP] levels), surgical bone margin (with or without osteomyelitis), vascular supply (skin perfusion pressure), ulcer size (wound grade 0–3 using the Society for Vascular Surgery Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection classification), and time to wound healing between patients with healing ulcers and those with nonhealing ulcers.
Results
Preoperative CRP levels and the ratio of ulcers classified as wound grade 3 were significantly lower and skin perfusion pressure was significantly higher in the healing group than in the nonhealing group (P < .05). No other significant differences were found between groups.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that debridement should be performed first to control infection if the preoperative CRP level is greater than 40 mg/L. Skin perfusion pressure of 55 mm Hg is strongly associated with successful treatment. We believe that this research could improve the likelihood of salvaging limbs in patients with diabetes with CLTI.
Diabetic foot infections are a common and often serious problem, accounting for more hospital bed days than any other complication of diabetes. Despite advances in antibiotic drug therapy and surgical management, these infections continue to be a major risk factor for amputations of the lower extremity. Although a variety of wound size and depth classification systems have been adapted for use in codifying diabetic foot ulcerations, none are specific to infection. In 2003, the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot developed guidelines for managing diabetic foot infections, including the first severity scale specific to these infections. The following year, the Infectious Diseases Society of America published their diabetic foot infection guidelines. Herein, we review some of the critical points from the Executive Summary of the Infectious Diseases Society of America document and provide a commentary following each issue to update the reader on any pertinent changes that have occurred since publication of the original document in 2004.
The importance of a multidisciplinary limb salvage team, apropos of this special issue jointly published by the American Podiatric Medical Association and the Society for Vascular Surgery, cannot be overstated. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 100(5): 395–400, 2010)
History of the Team Approach to Amputation Prevention
Pioneers and Milestones
This historical perspective highlights some of the pioneers, milestones, teams, and system changes that have had a major impact on management of the diabetic foot during the past 100 years. In 1934, American diabetologist Elliott P. Joslin noted that mortality from diabetic coma had fallen from 60% to 5% after the introduction of insulin, yet deaths from diabetic gangrene of the lower extremity had risen significantly. He believed that diabetic gangrene was preventable. His remedy was a team approach that included foot care, diet, exercise, prompt treatment of foot infections, and specialized surgical care.
The history of the team approach to management of the diabetic foot chronicles the rise of a new health profession—podiatric medicine and surgery—and emergence of the specialty of vascular surgery. The partnership among the diabetologist, vascular surgeon, and podiatric surgeon is a natural one. The complementary skills and knowledge of each can improve limb salvage and functional outcomes. Comprehensive multidisciplinary foot-care programs have been shown to increase quality of care and reduce amputation rates by 36% to 86%. Development of distal revascularization techniques to restore pulsatile blood flow to the foot has also been a major advancement.
Patients with diabetic foot complications are among the most complex and vulnerable of all patient populations. Specialized diabetic foot clinics of the 21st century should be multidisciplinary and equipped to coordinate diagnosis, off-loading, and preventive care; to perform revascularization procedures; to aggressively treat infections; and to manage medical comorbidities. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 100(5): 317–334, 2010)
The Role of Interdisciplinary Team Approach in the Management of the Diabetic Foot
A Joint Statement from the Society for Vascular Surgery and the American Podiatric Medical Association
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) recognize the beneficial impact of a multidisciplinary team approach on the care of patients with critical limb ischemia, especially in the diabetic population. As a first step in identifying clinical issues and questions important to both memberships, and to work together to find solutions that will benefit the shared patient, the two organizations appointed a representative group to write a joint statement on the importance of multidisciplinary team approach to the care of the diabetic foot. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 100(4): 309–311, 2010)
