On diabetic foot, wound healing, amputation prevention, and the merger of consumer tech with medical devices
A new bibliometric analysis from Wei and colleagues at Capital Medical University in Beijing maps 25 years (2000–2024) of global research on plantar pressure and diabetic foot ulcers — over 2,100 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. The findings tell a story that will feel familiar to many of us who have... Continue Reading →
Honored to deliver the keynote at the inaugural meeting of ADFA in Paris.
Chronic wounds are biological computers stuck in a boot loop. Sharp debridement is Control-Alt-Delete — the histological reboot that converts a chronic wound back into an acute one. Only then can you run the apps.
A new study from our USC group shows Medicaid patients with diabetic foot ulcers face 18% higher odds of infection hospitalization and 72% higher odds of major amputation — despite being younger and having comparable comorbidity burden after matching. The data point to structural vulnerability, not biology.
We talk a lot about the big-ticket items in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN)—glucose control, hemoglobin A1c, advanced glycation end products. But what about the stuff sitting quietly in your multivitamin? A new review from Ntoga and colleagues out of the Diabetic Foot Clinic at Democritus University of Thrace—working with collaborators at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki—makes... Continue Reading →
Nearly a Million Words Later: What 17 Years of DiabeticFootOnline Look Like in a Word Cloud I recently did something I probably should have done a long time ago. I pointed an AI at every single blog post on this site—all 3,835 of them—and asked it to show me what nearly two decades of writing... Continue Reading →
The revolving door of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) remains one of the most punishing cycles in limb preservation. While total contact casting and other standard off-loading approaches are effective for initial wound closure, they often fail to address the underlying biomechanical driver: persistent plantar pressure from bony “hot spots.” Emerging evidence suggests that minimally invasive... Continue Reading →
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANTALYA, TURKEY – David G. Armstrong, DPM, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California (USC), has been selected to deliver the opening keynote address at the 19th National & 7th International Wound Congress. The event, held at the Titanic Mardan Palace from December 4–7,... Continue Reading →
Team, we often talk about the "endgame" of limb salvage—the complex surgeries, the revascularization, the high-tech grafts. But the truth? The war against amputation is usually won or lost long before a patient ever sees a surgeon. It’s won in the primary care office. Our latest paper, just out in the Journal of Diabetes and... Continue Reading →
By: David G. Armstrong, DPM, MD, PhD We often discuss frailty as a geriatric syndrome—something to worry about when our patients reach their 70s or 80s. However, new data suggests we are missing a massive "middle" demographic that is silently struggling. This likely affects our efforts on a daily basis. In a fascinating new article... Continue Reading →
