As each year passes, it becomes clearer that the diabetic epidemic continues to grow. Americans are growing older and more obese, and even children are increasingly being affected by this insidious disease. The good news is that recently the much-heralded Thomson-Reuters study has validated what the podiatric profession has known for decades-podiatric care reduces amputation risk in diabetics. According to this APMA - funded research, "Patients who had seen a podiatrist in the year prior to the onset of a foot ulcer had significantly lower rates of any amputation and hospitalization than
those who had not."
Armed with this powerful data, individually and collectively, we must spread the word to patients, insurance carriers, legislators, and other professionals that we are the cost-effective providers of high-quality foot and ankle care to diabetics. Of course, the best way to strengthen our position is to ensure that we stay current on the best treatment protocols and new technologies in this ever-changing field (and the related field of wound management). This is the impetus for presenting this special section of our website.
Widely published data show that prosthetic outcomes for PFAs have not been satisfactory, either from a medical outcome or from a patient satisfaction point of view.
