Among patients with long-term diabetic foot ulcers, neither baseline HbA1c nor change in HbA1c was associated with wound healing time, according to findings from a clinic-based observational study.
“Although we know that chronic hyperglycemia leads to neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease, which are the proximal risk factors for diabetic foot ulcers, we did not see a clear association between HbA1c levels and wound healing in patients who have developed foot ulcers,” Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine and clinical director, division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Endocrine Today. “It is likely that the damage induced by chronic hyperglycemia reaches a point where it cannot be reversed in a relatively short time frame to improve wound healing.”