ANALYSIS OF RISK OF FOOT ULCERS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS: A POPULATION BASED STUDY

Introduction: Diabetes is one of the main problems in health systems in the world. The world prevalence of diabetes among adults was 6.4%, and will increase to 7.7% by 2030. Patients with diabetes are at greater risk of complications, the most important of them are diabetic neuropathy and peripheral vascular disorders that lead to diabetic foot ulcers. Objectives of the study: The basic aim of the study is to examine the risk of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes mellitus in local population of Pakistan. Methodology of the study: This descriptive study was conducted at Services institute of medical sciences, Lahore during Dec 2017 to March 2018. In this descriptive analytical study all patients with diabetes under 65 years referred to the hospital were studied. Exclusion criteria of the study were hypothyroidism, pernicious anemia, discopathy, malignancy because they can also lead to neuropathy. Results: Fifty patients with foot ulcers were treated at the hospital during this period. Forty controls attending the same diabetic clinic during the same period were also selected for the analysis. The mean age of the total sample was 55.5 years. The majority of the sample was male (51.1%), non-smokers (95.6%) and did not have hypertension (67.8%). The average duration after diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was 6.1 years. Conclusion: It is concluded that it is difficult to treat the foot ulcer in diabetic patients. It can be difficult to differentiate local soft tissue infection and inflammation from osteomyelitis. Three-phase bone scans and radiolabelled leukocyte scans are expensive but can help to establish an accurate diagnosis in problematic cases