Comparative Study of Management of Diabetic Foot by Vacuum Assisted Closure with Simple Saline Gauge Dressing
Author(s): Rajendra Singh, Priyanka Rai, Sunil Kumar Singh and Amarjot Singh*
Abstract
Diabetic foot ulcer is a common complication of Diabetes Mellitus that has shown an increasing trend over the previous decade. The use of sub-atmospheric pressure devices, available commercially as Vacuum-assisted closure devices, is an effective way to accelerate the healing of various wounds. The present study is designed to compare the management of diabetic foot by vacuum-assisted closure with Simple dressing. A study was conducted on patients with diabetes mellitus and suffering from foot ulcers. After the surgical intervention of the wound either debridement and/or amputation, all patients were divided into 2 groups. Patients in Group A underwent vacuum-assisted closure therapy and Patients in Group B Simple dressing and hospital-provided antibiotics. The depth and size of the wound were inspected and was recorded before and every three days during the study period. The simple dressing was performed twice daily after washing the ulcer with sterile saline. Type of diabetes mellitus and state of its control (in primary diagnosis, with control or without control), duration of the ulcer, previous history of the treatment of the ulcer, wound location, and frequency of underlying disease were evaluated for all the study patients. The duration of wound healing after therapy was s?t (p=0.0001) lower in patients of Group A than Group B while the hospital stay was s?t (p=0.0001) lower in patients of Group A than Group B in this study. This study showed that Vacuum-assisted closure appears to be safe and more effective than traditional methods for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers; as Vacuum-assisted closure has better results in wound healing than the traditional method, as it provides s?t reduction in the size of the wounds, faster healthy granulation tissue formation, a smaller number of debridement sessions and less incidence of local wound complications compared to the traditional dressing group.