Foot wounds in diabetic patients. A comprehensive approach incorporating use of topical growth factors.

Managing nonhealing foot wounds in diabetic patients requires an understanding of the wounds' multiple contributing causes, including neuropathy, vascular occlusive disease, infection, and impaired wound healing. Proper attention to each cause may require consultations with vascular or orthopedic surgeons, diabetic education nurses, podiatrists, orthotists, and pedorthists. Wounds that fail to heal may respond to topical application of growth factors as part of a comprehensive clinical approach to the diabetic foot wound. An aggressive approach to diagnosis and treatment can result in improved wound healing and limb salvage.