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 Foot care

The commonest oversight in the assessment of a patient with diabetes and infection is that of failing to assess as a trigger an area of (often chronic) ulceration associated with neuropathy and diabetes.

Neuropathy assessment is a routine part of annual review process, and in ALL patients with any degree of neuropathy who present unwell the skin of the feet and legs should be fully examined to exclude an otherwise obvious trigger – foot infection is generally treatable if caught early in its natural history, but is commonly missed.

All ulcers found on examination should undergo microbiological assessment before antibiotics are started to guide later therapy changes if specific organisms are identified

LINK to Complications and treatment of the foot.