An Overview on Diabetic Septic Foot: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Approach

Abstract

Diabetic Mellitus is one of the most common public health issues around the world. Thus, its complications are one of the most seen in health care settings. Nevertheless, the complications range from mild and up to life-threatening. One of the most notable complications is foot ulceration or the ‘diabetic foot’ which can lead to high morbidity or mortality. Even locally, diabetes is rising in Saudi Arabia at a disturbing rate which is reflective of the social lifestyle, and even though the population is only around 25 million the diabetes prevalence is seventh globally. Unfortunately, diabetes is not controlled in a lot of patients, which results in a higher rate of complications. Moreover, the awareness, education, and self-care of foot in these patients are very low. We wanted to analyze the literature for the recent advances in diagnosing, managing, and prognostic factors of diabetic foot ulceration. PubMed database was used for the selection of articles, papers were obtained and reviewed. PubMed database was used for articles selection, and the following key terms: diabetic foot ulcer, prognosis, and management. One of the most noticeable complications is diabetic foot ulcer which causes considerable life-affecting morbidity and even mortality. Even though many risk factors have been proposed as the etiology of the ulcer, nevertheless, the management plan is usually following the same pattern. However, teaching the diabetic patient about daily foot examination and an annual review is more beneficial to avoid and/or early diagnose any issues.