UA Surgery Professors Publish Guide to Manage Foot Complications Among Diabetes Patients
August 05, 2008
Two professors at The University of Arizona Department of Surgery have written a guide to help physicians prevent amputation and manage foot-related complications in patients with diabetes.
Amputation is a severe consequence for many of the estimated 24 million people in the United States who suffer from diabetes because the foot is especially prone to complications from the disease. 
In the report, “Comprehensive Foot Examination and Risk Assessment,” published in the online August 2008 edition of Diabetes Care, David G. Armstrong, DPM, PhD, and Joseph L. Mills, MD, professors of surgery at the UA Department of Surgery and members of the Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA) at the UA and Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, identify key components of the diabetic foot exam and provide a simple protocol for physicians to use for their patients with diabetes.
"Every 30 seconds, someone loses a limb due to diabetes,” Dr. Armstrong said. "In the past, different specialists were speaking different languages when talking about diagnosis and treatment. For the first time, there is a simple, common language that can help clinicians better identify in a quick visit the level of risk a person with diabetes has for amputation."
The report was the culmination of a blue-ribbon task force assembled by the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Armstrong co-chaired the committee with Andrew J.M. Boulton, MD, University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. In addition to Drs. Mills (vascular surgeon), Armstrong (podiatry) and Boulton (diabetology), the task force included internationally renowned specialists in family medicine, orthopaedics, physical therapy, and endocrinology.
Pocket guides for students, patients and clinicians are available at: store.diabetes.org.