By the time patients notice these sorts of wounds, they’ve often developed into a foot ulcer. Diabetic foot ulcers can involve:
- Ascending infection, or an infection that spreads up the leg
- Exposed bone or tendon from the wound
- Gangrene, or the death of skin and tissue
Request an appointment with one of our doctors if you have diabetes and you’ve noticed any of the symptoms of diabetic foot ulcers.
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Amputation: The worst-case scenario for diabetic foot problems
The average surgeon who sees a patient with a bad diabetic foot ulcer will immediately begin thinking about amputation. Depending on how far the patient’s infection has spread, amputation could involve:
- A portion of the foot
- The entire foot
- The foot plus part of the leg
Diabetic foot ulcers frequently lead to what’s called a below-knee amputation (also known as a transtibial amputation). A below-knee amputation involves removing the leg at some point along the tibia, one of the two bones that run from the knee to the ankle. This can be a devastating loss for patients. With the loss of that much of the leg, patients have to work much harder to do what they were able to do before their amputation—expending 50 to 125 percent more energy just to maintain their previous activity levels.
In addition, below-knee amputations have been linked with an increased risk of death following the surgery. One study conducted in the Netherlands found that the median survival time after having a below-knee amputation was just 27.8 months—a little more than two years.
Amputation can lead to a sort of vicious cycle for patients. Because it’s harder to walk after an amputation, patients often are less mobile afterward. This can increase the risk of more infections, which can lead to more amputations. More amputations can lead to different prostheses as more of the leg is removed, which can make it harder to walk. It’s a painful series of events we try to avoid for our patients.
How we save diabetic feet
We try to avoid these sorts of problems through limb salvage, or treating diabetic foot ulcers before amputation is necessary. Dr. Attinger and Dr. Steinberg are internationally known experts in the area of limb salvage. More than 1,000 patients per year benefit from their expertise. The Center for Limb Salvage brings together a team of doctors from a variety of medical disciplines, including:
- Diabetology, or the study of diabetes
- Plastic surgery
- Podiatric (foot) surgery
- Radiology, or medical imaging
- Rheumatology, or the study of problems affecting the joints, muscles and bones, as well as the immune system
- Vascular surgery
The best case is when we can treat foot problems before surgery is needed. We use a number of advanced treatments to make this possible, including:
- Braces or orthotics, which can help protect and support the foot and leg
- Gait evaluation, or a specialized analysis of a patient’s walking pattern to correct problems
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which can stimulate the body’s natural healing processes
If surgery is needed, we can transplant tissue from other areas of the body to save a patient’s toe, heel, hindfoot or the entire foot. In other words, we can save patients’ feet when other surgeons can’t. This requires advanced microsurgical skill to remove dead or diseased tissue while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible. If tissue transplants aren’t possible, we may be able to use skin substitutes temporarily or permanently to correct wounds. We also may be able to improve blood flow to the foot with vascular surgery, which can promote healing.
The benefits of limb salvage
Saving the foot increases mobility, which leads to a higher quality of life. When it’s not as hard to walk, you’re much more likely to be active and fit. This means limb salvage can help patients be healthier and live longer.
On top of all that, limb salvage tends to be less expensive than amputation over the long run. If we can save your foot with one or two surgeries, that’s the end of the surgical process. But if we have to amputate, it tends to start that vicious cycle of developing more infections and needing more amputations. The costs of amputations—in terms of both money and quality of life—can be crushing to patients.
No one wants a patient to go through the pain and difficulty of an amputation. I’m hopeful that our limb salvage expertise will help more patients stay mobile, active and healthy.
