We're ‘missing the target’ with treatment of diabetic foot ulcers

It's been a tough year in healthcare, and it's likely many of us don't remember the details of the last wound care lecture we attended. But if we were to look through the schedules of most meetings held the past few years, I am fairly certain that almost all of the seminars related to healing diabetic foot ulcers have been focused on ‘advanced wound care’ technologies, for example, hyperbaric oxygen, cellular tissue products, biofilm inhibitors, negative pressure therapy, etc.

However, what is lost in the allure of these advance technologies is the reality that there are far more diabetes related non-traumatic lower extremity amputations (NLEAs) occurring in the US today than there were 15 years ago. In fact, a recent study showed that the rate of NLEAs increased about 60% between 2009–2015, versus 2000–2009. So, how is it possible with these powerful therapies available to us, the most important goal is clearly not being met, for example, avoiding NLEAs?