No Shoes, No Socks, More Service: An Introduction to Improve Diabetic Foot Care

Diabetic foot ulcers are a major cause of morbidity and mortality for diabetic patients.1 Sequelae from foot ulcers include incretion, tissue necrosis, gangrene, oseteomyelitis and amputation.2 More than 80,000 lower extremity amputations (LEA) are performed on diabetic patients, annually.3 The economic cost of diabetic foot complications ran up to 11 billion dollars in 2001 and it has been estimated that foot complications may account for up to 20 percent of the economic cost of diabetes.4