CLINICO-INVESTIGATIVE PROFILE OF PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC FOOT IN A RURAL TERTIARY CARE CENTRE OF MAHARASHTRA

Description

Introduction: The present study was aimed to study clinic-investigative profile of foot lesions in diabetics in patients presenting in Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni. Materials and Methods: This prospective cross sectional study was undertaken in 50 patients carried out over a period of 2 years. Patients, irrespective of their age and gender, admitted in the inpatient department of surgery with Diabetes mellitus having foot problem and consenting for taking part in the study were included. All patients were evaluated by taking detailed history, clinical examination and necessary investigation done. Results: Most patients present with diabetic foot lesion were in 7th decade of life. females were more commonly affected with male to female ratio 1:1.5. Ulcer was the common lesion seen here which was present in 24(48%) patients while abscess seen in 3 (6%) patients, was the least common lesion. There were many anaemic patients (74%) in current study. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest grown organism form the pus sample of foot lesions. Of the 50 patients, only 24 (48%) were known diabetics. Also, 18 (36%) patients were known smokers, 12 (24%) were alcoholic. Most patients (35 i.e, 70%) walked bare foot while only 15(30%) patients were using footwear. Cardiovascular diseases were common (10 i.e, 20%) associated conditions. Peripheral neuropathy was present in 21 (42%) patients. On staging the patients according to Wagner staging, most of the patients belonged to stage III (23) and IV (14). Doppler study in select patients revealed that 8 (16%) patients were detected as impaired blood flow in peripheral vessels, 3(6%) patients showed complete stenosis and 5(10%) patients showed partial stenosis. Conclusion: Diabetic foot lesions were common in elderly patients. The most common presentation of foot lesions was ulcer. The foot lesions were associated with poor blood sugar control, peripheral neuropathy, cardiovascular diseases, anemia, smoking and alcohol addiction. Most patients belonged to Wagner stages III and IV. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest grown organism form the pus sample of foot lesions .
Keywords: Foot lesions; Diabetes mellitus; Staphylococcus aureus; Cardiovascular diseases.