Diabetic foot disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned for our future

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the treatment of all diseases, especially chronic ones, and diabetic foot is no exception. The COVID-19 pandemic has favored the adoption of a new model of assistance delivery to facilitate the delivery of remote assistance to patients. The standard model based on face-to-face visits has been integrated by a hybrid model of telemedicine, home care and face-to-face visits to keep patients at home to minimize the number of in-person visits to clinics and admissions except for complicated DFUs. However, telemedicine is not always possible or suitable for various reasons (patients not digital, need for practical treatment of the foot etc.). In this review, we looked at the different approaches to diabetic foot ulcer management and the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes-related lower extremity complications and the lessons we have learned for the future.