.png)
.png)
ABSTRACT
Foot lesions area common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. They also present some economic problems. The gold standard for selecting the appropriate therapy for a diabetic foot patient is the diabetic foot team conference, ideally supported by all relevant specialities. Far too often, this ideal is not achieved. The aim of this study is to evaluate clinical, epidemiological and economic characteristics of diabetic patients with 75 foot problems hospitalised in our Department, Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Atatürk University during the last 10 years. We divided our practice into two stages: 1 from 1990 to 1997, in which a single discipline approach was used; 2 from 1997 to 2000, in which a multidisciplinary approach was selected. Our results suggest that a multidisciplinary approach will decrease amputation rate.
Foot lesions area common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. They also present some economic problems. The gold standard for selecting the appropriate therapy for a diabetic foot patient is the diabetic foot team conference, ideally supported by all relevant specialities. Far too often, this ideal is not achieved. The aim of this study is to evaluate clinical, epidemiological and economic characteristics of diabetic patients with 75 foot problems hospitalised in our Department, Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Atatürk University during the last 10 years. We divided our practice into two stages: 1 from 1990 to 1997, in which a single discipline approach was used; 2 from 1997 to 2000, in which a multidisciplinary approach was selected. Our results suggest that a multidisciplinary approach will decrease amputation rate.