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84% of major amputations in patients with diabetes are due to a diabetic foot ulcer 15% of patients with diabetes will develop a diabetic foot ulcer The rate of amputations of lower limbs in Spain is 2.9 per 1,000 diabetics This group recalls that the podiatrist is the professional who has a comprehensive training and vision of the foot, so it has much to contribute in the prevention, treatment and reduction of amputations derived from diabetes The General Council of Official Schools of Podiatrists, on the occasion of the World Diabetes Day that is celebrated tomorrow, November 14, requests that the regional health services of Diabetic Foot Care Units, assisted by a multidisciplinary team in which the podiatrist is included, a specialist who has been formed with public funds in Spanish public universities and whose knowledge should be used and contribute to public health and the benefit of society. The General Council of Podiatry Schools reminds that the podiatrist is the health professional with a comprehensive training and vision of the foot, and specifically the diabetic foot, so it has a fundamental role in the prevention and treatment of diabetic foot, as well as in the reduction of amputations derived from this disease. 84% of the major amputations in patients with diabetes mellitus are due to a diabetic foot ulcer, as highlighted by Dr. Beatriz Jiménez at the recent National Congress of Podiatry held in Salamanca. 15% of diabetics will develop a diabetic foot ulcer throughout their lives, Jiménez recalled. According to the latest available data, extracted from the III Health Plan of La Rioja 2015-2019, the rate of amputations of lower limbs in diabetic patients in Spain is 2.9 per 1,000 patients. The Health Plan includes among its recommendations "to favor the early detection of diabetic foot with alert systems" and "to elaborate an interdisciplinary program of specific attention to the diabetic foot, with regard to its prevention and management".
"These are very high figures for a country with the development rates that Spain has," according to the president of the Council of Podiatry Schools and the College of Podiatrists of Extremadura, José García Mostazo, who says that the Diabetic Foot Units would reduce the number of amputations, and the high economic and social cost of these interventions. García Mostazo recalls that in the Diabetic Foot Units that are being created in some autonomous communities (Asturias, Madrid, Andalusia ...) the podiatrist is being left out, which he considers "absurd and incongruous, especially when the WHO (World Health Organization) Health) says that a diabetic patient older than 45 years with a risk of suffering from grade 1 foot has to go to the podiatrist ". In La Rioja, however, the Podiatry College is working with the regional government to create a public Diabetic Foot Unit that includes podiatrists. Via: http://www.cgcop.es
