An audit of lower extremity complications in octogenarian patients with diabetes mellitus.
Publication/Presentation Date
9-1-2004
Abstract
Podiatric pathology is common in the elderly patient population per se. Whether the presence of diabetes mellitus in the elderly imposes an additional risk for podiatric problems is questionable. The purpose of this study was to determine if the prevalence of podiatric problems in octogenarian diabetic patients differed from that found in a similarly aged group of nondiabetic patients. For this study, the prevalence of lower extremity complications in octogenarian patients (age 80) with diabetes and without diabetes was estimated using data from the 1996 through 2002 National Hospital Discharge Survey. The diabetic octogenarian patients had twice the risk for developing an ulcer; 3 times the risk of developing a foot abscess, and a 4-fold risk of developing osteomyelitis. Furthermore, the octogenarian diabetic patient is nearly twice as likely to undergo ulceration debridement and 3 to 5 times more likely to have a lower leg amputation, toe amputation, or any amputation. The incidence of amputations, ulcerations, and other serious conditions is significantly higher in the diabetic group compared to normal age-matched control patients. This study shows that in the octogenarian patient the presence of diabetes imposes an additive risk for complications.
Volume
3
Issue
3
First Page
161
Last Page
164
ISSN
1534-7346
Published In/Presented At
Reed J. F., 3rd (2004). An audit of lower extremity complications in octogenarian patients with diabetes mellitus. The international journal of lower extremity wounds, 3(3), 161–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534734604267677
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
15866808
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article