Although osteomyelitis of the foot in diabetes remains common in specialist foot clinics across the world, the quality of published work to guide clinicians in the diagnosis and management is ...generally poor. Diagnosis should be based primarily on clinical signs supported by results of pathologic and radiologic investigations. Although the gold standard comes from the histologic and microbiological examination of bone, clinicians should be aware of the problems of sampling error. This lack of standardization of diagnostic criteria and of consensus on the choice of outcome measures poses further difficulties when seeking evidence to support management decisions. Experts have traditionally recommended surgical removal of infected bone but available evidence suggests that in many cases (excepting those in whom immediate surgery is required to save life or limb) a nonsurgical approach to management of osteomyelitis may be effective for many, if not most, patients with osteomyelitis of the diabetic foot. The benefits and limitations of both approaches need, however, to be established in prospective trials so that appropriate therapy can be offered to appropriate patients at the appropriate time, with the patients' views taken fully into account.
BACKGROUND:The outcome of ulcers of the foot in diabetes is generally poor with around 1 in 10 resulting in the loss of a limb. There is an urgent need for the development of interventions to improve ...the outcome for patients. To date, however, the evidence base to support many of the interventions in common use, including wound dressings, is poor.
METHODS:This article summarizes the findings of systematic reviews of the subject published between 2006 and 2014 and covers all relevant articles in any language, as well as comments on certain newer publications.
RESULTS:The 3 consecutive systematic reviews selected a total of 207 articles that met the predefined criteria from a total of 5,632 identified. These included articles on a very wide range of interventions designed to be applied to ulcers of the foot in diabetes to promote wound healing.
CONCLUSIONS:The available data suggest that although some newer therapies show promise, few published studies were of high quality, and the majority were susceptible to bias. More work is needed to substantiate the role of available dressings and wound care products in day-to-day clinical practice. Future work will require studies to be performed to a higher standard than many of those reviewed here and should establish not just clinical effectiveness but cost-effectiveness. The conclusions drawn from the studies of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) might apply to the management of other types of chronic wounds.
While some micro-organisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, are clearly implicated in causing tissue damage in diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), our knowledge of the contribution of the entire microbiome ...to clinical outcomes is limited. We profiled the microbiome of a longitudinal sample series of 28 people with diabetes and DFUs of the heel in an attempt to better characterize the relationship between healing, infection and the microbiome.
In total, 237 samples were analysed from 28 DFUs, collected at fortnightly intervals for 6 months or until healing. Microbiome profiles were generated by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, supplemented by targeted nanopore sequencing.Result/Key findings. DFUs which failed to heal during the study period (20/28, 71.4 %) were more likely to be persistently colonized with a heterogeneous community of micro-organisms including anaerobes and Enterobacteriaceae (log-likelihood ratio 9.56, P=0.008). During clinically apparent infection, a reduction in the diversity of micro-organisms in a DFU was often observed due to expansion of one or two taxa, with recovery in diversity at resolution. Modelling of the predicted species interactions in a single DFU with high diversity indicated that networks of metabolic interactions may exist that contribute to the formation of stable communities.
Longitudinal profiling is an essential tool for improving our understanding of the microbiology of chronic wounds, as community dynamics associated with clinical events can only be identified by examining changes over multiple time points. The development of complex communities, particularly involving Enterobacteriaceae and strict anaerobes, may be contributing to poor outcomes in DFUs and requires further investigation.
Because the chronic ulcer of the foot in diabetes is often unresponsive to standard care, there has been considerable interest in the potential benefit of so-called “advanced wound therapies”—many of ...which have a biological basis. This article summarizes the findings of earlier systematic reviews, together with the findings of more recent publications. The available evidence suggests that while some biological therapies offer promise, more work is needed to substantiate their role in clinical practice. This conclusion needs to be placed in the context of very strong observational data demonstrating the major improvements that can accompany changes to the way in which wound care is delivered with, in particular, the introduction of multidisciplinary team work and more rapid referral for expert assessment.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Background. The aim of this study was to seek a temporal association between the start of renal replacement therapy (RRT) and the first recorded foot ulcer in diabetes. Methods. Details of all ...patients with diabetes who had received RRT were extracted from the renal database and were cross-checked with the database held in the specialist foot clinic. The date of onset of first registered foot ulcer was taken and compared with the date of onset of RRT. The self-controlled case-series method was used to establish any significant temporal association between the start of RRT and first recorded foot ulcer in diabetes. Results. Of 466 patients with diabetes dialysed at our hospital since 1976, 94 (20.2%) were recorded as having at least one foot ulcer, with 15 of these undergoing major amputation. Incidence ratios (IRs) were calculated for 90 patients in whom complete data were available. A close temporal association was observed between the start of RRT and the first recorded foot ulceration: IR (95% CI) in the first and between the second and fifth years of dialysis were 3.35 (95% CI: 1.59–7.04), and 4.56 (2.19–9.50), respectively, relative to the time before dialysis. The IR for major amputation was 31.98 (2.09–490.3) in the first year and 34.01 (1.74–666.2) in the second to fifth years. Conclusion. These results reveal a close relationship between the onset of RRT in diabetes and the onset of foot ulceration, and confirm the high incidence of amputation in those on dialysis. Urgent steps should be taken to coordinate all aspects of diabetes foot care before and after the start of RRT.
IntroductionPrevious investigations have suggested that evening chronotypes may be more susceptible to obesity-related metabolic alterations. However, whether device-measured physical behaviors ...differ by chronotype in those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains unknown.Research design and methodsThis analysis reports data from the ongoing Chronotype of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Effect on Glycaemic Control (CODEC) observational study. Eligible participants were recruited from both primary and secondary care settings in the Midlands area, UK. Participants were asked to wear an accelerometer (GENEActiv, ActivInsights, Kimbolton, UK) on their non-dominant wrist for 7 days to quantify different physical behaviors (sleep, sedentary, light, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), intensity gradient, average acceleration and the acceleration above which the most active continuous 2, 10, 30 and 60 min are accumulated). Chronotype preference (morning, intermediate or evening) was assessed using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses assessed whether chronotype preference was associated with physical behaviors and their timing. Evening chronotypes were considered as the reference group.Results635 participants were included (age=63.8±8.4 years, 34.6% female, body mass index=30.9±5.1 kg/m2). 25% (n=159) of the cohort were morning chronotypes, 52% (n=330) intermediate and 23% (n=146) evening chronotypes. Evening chronotypes had higher sedentary time (28.7 min/day, 95% CI 8.6 to 48.3) and lower MVPA levels (–9.7 min/day, –14.9 to –4.6) compared to morning chronotypes. The intensity of the most active continuous 2-60 min of the day, average acceleration and intensity gradient were lower in evening chronotypes. The timing of physical behaviors also differed across chronotypes, with evening chronotypes displaying a later sleep onset and consistently later physical activity time.ConclusionsPeople with T2DM lead a lifestyle characterized by sedentary behaviors and insufficient MVPA. This may be exacerbated in those with a preference for ‘eveningness’ (ie, go to bed late and get up late).
Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a unique lipoprotein, elevated serum levels of which are independently associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is ...often associated with high serum cholesterol, itself a risk factor for CHD. Despite this, patients with PBC are thought to have a lower than expected incidence of CHD. We hypothesised that this may be related to low serum levels of Lp(a) in PBC patients. This was investigated by collecting fasting blood samples from 42 patients with PBC, 39 age- and sex-matched subjects with non-PBC liver disease and 432 community control subjects. Serum was analysed for total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoproteins A1 and B (apo A1 and apo B). Lp(a) was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. There was a significant reduction of Lp(a) concentrations in the PBC group compared with the healthy controls (median value 28.5 mg/l vs. 75.0 mg/l, P < 0.005) and between the non-PBC liver disease group (median value 52.0 mg/l) and control group (P = 0.001). Within both the liver disease and PBC patient groups there were significant negative correlations between Lp(a) levels and bilirubin (R = -0.564, P < 0.001 and R = -0.395, P = 0.010 respectively). This preliminary study has demonstrated reduced Lp(a) levels in PBC patients which may be a contributory factor to explain a possible cardioprotective effect in such patients, despite elevated LDL cholesterol levels.
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