Can An Advanced Biological Dressing Cure A Diabetic Foot Ulcer

One of the most dangerous situations that someone with diabetes can face is the formation of a diabetic foot ulcer. An ulcer or wound is a open sore of the skin and occurs beneath the foot in an area of high pressure. The pressure may cause thick skin to form. Because of the unrelenting pressure coupled with the reduced healing ability caused by diabetes, the skin degenerates and a wound forms.

Someone who is not diabetic will feel discomfort long before the skin atrophies and an ulcer forms. Diabetes causes peripheral neuropathy, a numbing of the nerves in the feet. The diabetic peripheral neuropathy prevents the pain signals from being processed and therefore no warning is perceived before the foot ulcer forms. Adding insult to injury, people with diabetes have a diminished immune system and a foot wound is more prone to become infected. This puts the entire limb in danger, since infection can spread to the bone and travel up the leg.

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For these reasons, it is vital to diagnose and get a diabetic foot wound to heal immediately. Every person with diabetes should have a relationship with a foot specialist before a problem occurs. Your foot specialist will consider a diabetic ulcer to be a medical emergency. The sooner a diabetic foot wound is diagnosed and treated, the better chance it can be healed quickly and without complication.

There are a number of resources that a foot specialist will implement to manage and resolve a diabetic foot wound. There are a large number of gels, foams, and other healing dressings that are the first line of treatment. This is used in combination with some modality to reduce or eliminate the pressure that caused the ulcer to form in the first place. The rule of thumb that is now used, based on the 2010 Consensus Study, is a 50% reduction of wound size within four weeks. If there is less than that, we must turn to an advanced biological dressing.

An advanced biological dressing is a bioengineered dermal substitute, not a skin graft, which is derived from human tissue. The dressing contains fibroblasts, which are cells responsible for healing wounds, within a matrix that fills in the wound. The advanced biological dressing, which includes Dermagraft and Apligraf, are applied in the podiatrist's clinic and covered with a dressing that is left intact for up to one week. Different protocols are used by different clinicians, but the dressing is reapplied every week or two until the ulcer is resolved or until healing progress stops.

In the past, advanced biological dressings were used as therapy of last resort. That has changed. They are recognized to substantially accelerate healing of a diabetic foot ulcer. These dressings are covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance. If it is not suggested by your podiatrist during treatment for a diabetic foot wound, be sure to ask or find another practitioner who uses these advanced dressings.

85% of lower limb amputations are preceded by a diabetic foot ulcer. 15% of a diabetic ulcers lead to an amputation. Half of all diabetic foot wounds that remain unhealed lead to the death of the patient within five years. Do not become one of these statistics. When it comes to a diabetic foot wound, "almost healed" is not good enough. Visit your podiatrist and see what more can be done to heal your diabetic foot wound.

Can An Advanced Biological Dressing Cure A Diabetic Foot Ulcer

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