Diabetic Foot Evaluation

Diabetic Foot Evaluation

The patients suffering from diabetes must go through diabetic foot evaluation procedures. The evaluation includes treatments, foot-care education and identification of risk factors through physical examination and by studying the records of the medical history of the patient. The feet disorders like foot ulceration, amputation, and peripheral neuropathy are caused by diabetes are life-altering phenomena. That is the reason why annual diabetic foot evaluation is a must for the patients.

While going through the medical history of the patient, one must check the diabetes history, previous complications caused due to diabetes and blood glucose control levels. If the patient has hypertension, cardiac disorders, visual impairment, etc. then, health factors associated with these must be taken into consideration.

There are certain tools that can be used for foot assessment.

NeuroScan is a tool that is used to detect the loss in sensation. It is a non-invasive and tool, and it works on the principle of vibration. It consists of a tuning fork, and the amplitude of vibration of the tuning fork is used as a parameter to detect diabetic neuropathy.

Podoscan is another method that can be used in diabetic foot evaluation. This method accurately plots the pressure distribution results in both static and dynamic conditions. The high-resolution images generated by the podoscan can be used to accurately determine the cause of the problem.

Other than these, there are also some methods for foot evaluation like the Ipswich touch test, pinprick test, Achilles reflex text, etc. However, these methods only show qualitative results and are mostly done at a very primary stage.