The prognosis for people with an infected diabetic foot ulcer is worse than was previously thought, according to new research.
More than half the patients in the research study did not see their ulcer heal over a year – and one in seven had to have part or all of their foot amputated.
Foot ulcers are open wounds and they affect around a quarter of the 3.3 million people in the UK living with diabetes.
The wounds develop because diabetes damages the nerves and blood vessels in the feet.
These wounds are chronic, slow to heal and prone to infection, and it is infection that normally leads to some of the severe consequences such as losing a limb or multiple amputations.
The research, led by Professor Andrea Nelson at the University of Leeds, set out to examine the outcomes for people with infected diabetic foot ulcers and the results underline the need for people at risk of foot ulcers to be closely monitored.
