Risk of amputation to small wounds How to manage summer 'Diabetes'
Jul 07, 2024
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Let's learn more about diabetic foot with Professor Kyung Min-gyu of orthopedic surgery at Gangdong Kyunghee University Hospital.
A typical complication of diabetes is vascular complication. As blood becomes sticky like starch syrup due to high blood sugar, it is difficult to circulate smoothly to the body's peripheral tissues, causing problems. It can appear in all blood vessels in the human body, from small blood vessels such as eyes and kidneys to large blood vessels such as the heart and brain. If the arterial blood vessels in the double leg are narrowed or blocked, the tip of the toe becomes black or the minor wound of the foot does not heal easily, and ulcers occur, which is called diabetic foot disease (hereinafter referred to as diabetic foot). Young diabetics in their 30s and 40s do not think they will develop diabetes, but in fact, many diabetics suffer from complications from diabetes. In fact, 60-70% of diabetic patients experience foot complications at least once in their lifetime.
The main symptoms of diabetes are abnormal sensation, ulcers, and necrosis. The problem is that small wounds easily progress to ulcers in diabetic foot, and if it gets worse, it can even go to amputation. The rapid deterioration of wounds in diabetic foot is associated with nerve complications and peripheral vascular disorders. If you suffer from diabetes for a long time, you become insensitive to pain and temperature changes due to nerve damage, making it easy to leave it without knowing the wound. Diabetes also frequently causes peripheral vascular disorders, which reduce the blood supply to the wound and cause the wound to not heal well. Simply cutting with a knife, stabbing with a sharp object, or even incorrectly cutting the claws can lead to a situation in which cutting is necessary in severe cases due to the inflammation that occurred at that time.
The biggest goal of diabetic treatment is to avoid possible amputations.
Professor Kyung Min-gyu explained, "'To prevent diabetes from going to amputation, thorough management of diabetes and complications is important.'"Multi-disciplinary treatment such as internal medicine, vascular surgery, and radiology is essential to manage blood circulation, blood sugar control, neuralgia, and to comprehensively judge infection conditions."
Patients' own care is also important. Thorough blood sugar management is basic, and of course, you should take care of your feet so that they don't get hurt, and if you have a wound on your feet, you should go to the hospital right away. If the wound is severe and the ulcer has progressed, surgery to remove the dead tissue is necessary. Before surgery, the condition of the blood vessels should be identified to solve the blood vessel problem if there is a blocked blood vessel, because if the blood vessel condition is poor, the wound healing environment is difficult to improve, and the wound is often worse and more rotting.
In diabetic patients, leg amputation is considered in the last instance. Even if it is amputated, it seems that you can walk well quickly by wearing a prosthetic leg, but the reality is very different. In fact, most of the patients who live in bed have a lot of restrictions on their activities when they have to perform amputations in areas above the ankle. In this situation, amputation is likely to cause other complications such as pneumonia and pressure ulcers, and eventually the other leg is likely to be lost. In the end, it is very important to thoroughly manage it in everyday life so that it does not proceed to cutting.
More attention is needed in summer when the temperature is high. Due to the hot weather, sandals and slippers are often exposed to external stimuli due to increased wear of sandals and slippers, and small wounds are easily developed due to inflammation as bacterial propagation becomes active due to the high temperature and humid summer environment. It is recommended to wear socks and clogged shoes to protect your feet. Wearing slippers indoors also helps. You can sweat a lot, so wash often and dry well enough between your toes after washing.
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