Treatment of diabetic foot during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: In the context of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, people have had to stay at home more and make fewer trips to the hospital. Furthermore, hospitals give priority to the treatment of COVID-19 patients. These factors are not conducive to the treatment of diabetic foot, and even increase the risk of amputation. Therefore, how to better treat patients with diabetic foot during the COVID-19 epidemic, prevent further aggravation of the disease and reduce the risk of amputation in patients with diabetic foot has become an urgent problem for doctors around the world. Methods: The researchers searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and the Embase database. The retrieval time was set from the database establishment to October 2021. All studies on treatment of diabetic foot in the COVID-19 pandemic were included in our study. Results: A total of 6 studies were included in this study. In the 6 protocols for treating patients with diabetic foot, the researchers classified patients according to the condition of their diabetic foot. Diabetic foot patients with general conditions received treatment at home, and doctors can guide the wound dressing change and medication treatment of patients through telemedicine. Patients with severe conditions of diabetic foot were admitted to hospital for treatment. Patients were screened for COVID-19 before hospitalization, those infected or suspected of COVID-19 were treated in isolation, and those not infected with COVID-19 were treated in a general ward. Conclusion: Through this systematic review, we proposed a new protocol for the treatment of patients with diabetic foot in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provided reference for the treatment of diabetic foot in the context of COVID-19 epidemic. However, the global applicability of the treatment protocol for diabetic foot in the context of COVID-19 epidemic proposed in this study needs further clinical testing.