On diabetic foot, wound healing, amputation prevention, and the merger of consumer tech with medical devices
A new 28-item core descriptor set gives diabetes-related foot-ulcer studies a common baseline language—so treatments can be compared more fairly and evidence can travel farther.
Every one of us has quoted a healing rate. In clinic, in a grant, in a talk, in a conversation with a patient sitting on the exam table asking the only question that matters: will this close? Most of those quoted numbers came from the control arms of industry trials, which is a bit like... Continue Reading →
A familiar beta-blocker has found an unfamiliar role. Phase 3 data suggest topical esmolol may help diabetic foot ulcers close—and the slowest-healing wounds may be especially interesting.
New in Diabetes Care: dropout from diabetic foot ulcer offloading trials is not random. Slower walking and depressive symptoms predict who leaves (AUC 0.81) — and a lower-burden smart boot kept people engaged. Attrition is signal, not noise.
Our colleagues at the NIDDK Diabetic Foot Consortium have published the methodologic scaffolding the field has needed: a platform study—master-protocol trial design borrowed from oncology and COVID-19 vaccines—applied for the first time to DFU biomarker validation. Their mantra: No DFU Goes Unstudied.
Great, provocative work by our colleagues Prof. Keith Harding and coworkers. Use of the radius, rather than surface area or percent wound area reduction may be a way forward Advance of wound margin, rather than PWAR or gross area reduction may be a more consistent surrogate method to evaluate healing rate Complete healing is problematic... Continue Reading →
