[Management of the diabetic foot: which criteria for clinical evaluation and initial management?]

Abstract

The diabetic foot remains a diabetes complication with potentially devastating consequences, which is initially silent and too often neglected. Its systematic screening first has to target the estimation of the risk level of foot lesions. This estimation is based on clinical examination regarding the severity of neuropathy, its consequences and of a possibly associated arterial disease. Preventive interventions are determined according to the risk level. They always rely on an important involvement of the patient, which in turn requires the healthcare professionals' engagement in individualized patient education and psychosocial support. Wound management and its diagnostic and therapeutic challenges usually calls for a collaborative approach involving several different specialists.