Consensus report

Abstract

The American Diabetes Association convened a Consensus Development Conference on Diabetic Foot Wound Care on April 7-8, 1999, to provide guidance to clinicians who manage foot wounds in people with diabetes. A multidisciplinary eight-member panel heard presentations from 25 experts, complemented by audience contributions, on the economics of wound care, the biology of wound healing, and the classification, assessment, treatment, and prevention of recurrence of foot wounds. The panel developed this consensus position on the following questions: 1) What is the value of treating a diabetic foot wound? 2) What is the biology of wound healing? Is wound healing different in people with diabetes? 3) How should diabetic foot wounds be assessed and classified? 4) What are the appropriate treatments for foot wounds? 5) How should new therapies be evaluated? and 6) How can recurrent foot wounds be prevented?