Because neuroischemic complications are associated with a high rate of recurrence, this presentation proposes a slight shift in how health care providers counsel and communicate risk to their patients. If the epidemiology of this problem is comparable with that of cancer, and recurrences are common, then perhaps language commensurate with such risks should follow.
After initial healing of an index wound, patients are referred to not as being cured but rather as being “in remission.” This concept is easy for the patient and the rest of the team to understand, and it powerfully connotes the necessity for frequent follow-up and rapid intervention for inevitable minor and sometimes major complications.
This program will review tried-and-true as well as up-to-the-minute advances in biologics, consumer electronics, mechanics, medicine, and surgery that are “pushing the envelope” in extending ulcer-free, hospital-free, and activity-rich days in efforts to make prevention pay.
Registrants will learn how to:
- Identify risk factors for ulceration
- Identify risk factors for amputation
- Understand the impact of diabetes on the health care system
- Understand the impact of diabetic foot complications on the health care system