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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Interdisciplinary treatment of diabetic foot wounds in the elderly : Low risk of amputations and mortality and good chance of being mobile with good quality of life

subject

description

Aims: A major proportion of patients with diabetic foot syndrome are older than 65 years. Little is known about outcomes of these elderly patients. Methods: We analysed 245 treatment cases in an observational single-centre study for comorbidities and outcomes over a 6-month period. Results: In all, 122 patients had peripheral arterial disease which was significantly increasing with age ( n = 245, df = 1, χ2 = 23.06, p ⩽ 0.0001). Increasing age correlated positively with decreasing rate of revascularisations ( n = 122, df = 1, χ2 = 4.23, p = 0.039). In total, 23 (9.3%) patients died in the observation period. In-hospital mortality was 2.8%, percentage of major amputations 2.8%. In the invasively treated subgroup, 13 out of 67 patients died within the observation period. Death after revascularisation was independent of age ( n = 67, df = 1, χ2 = 2.05, p = 0.153). Mobility decreased in the whole study group with increasing age. The risk of decrease with age was not influenced by revascularisation status. Conclusion: With careful interdisciplinary evaluation, elderly patients with diabetic foot syndrome can be treated with favourable outcome. Mobility before and after treatment deserves more attention as a predictor of treatment success and outcome parameter.