Dane K. Wukich, MD, Katherine M. Raspovic, DPM, Natalie C. Suder, MPHF
The aim of this study was to identify the most-feared complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), comparing those with diabetic foot pathology with those without diabetic foot pathology. Methods. We determined the frequency of patients ranking major lower-extremity amputation (LEA) as their greatest fear in comparison to blindness, death, diabetic foot infection (DFI), or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. We further categorized the study group patients (N = 207) by their pathology such as diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), Charcot neuroarthropathy, foot infection, or acute neuropathic fractures and dislocations. The control group (N = 254) was comprised of patients with diabetes who presented with common non–diabetes-related foot pathology. Results. A total of 461 patients were enrolled in this study and included 254 patients without diabetic foot complications and 207 patients with diabetic foot problems. When comparing patients with and without diabetic disease, no significant differences were observed with regard to their fear of blindness, DFI, or ESRD requiring dialysis … read more
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