Treatment of a Diabetic Foot Ulcer

This author navigates the complex issues in treating an elderly patient with a heavily exudative diabetic foot ulcer, which has recurred over an 11-year period.

This case is compelling for several reasons. It illustrates the importance of the team approach to limb salvage in a complex case. It illustrates the importance of thorough vascular assessment, the need to biopsy and the utilization of advanced technologies. It also illustrates the disconnect in wound management between the home health industry and ordering physicians who do not closely follow their patients in the home setting and who typically have minimal expertise in wound care.
Lastly, it is a case that illustrates the impact of social dynamics in the home and how effective networking can positively affect outcomes. It is certainly not the most complicated case in the clinical sense but there are powerful and enduring lessons that one can take away from this case.

The patient is an 82-year-old male with a left foot ulcer, which was marked by healing and recurrence over an 11-year period. The initial evaluation of the ulcer occurred in the patient’s home June 13, 2006. His past history included heavy tobacco use of greater than 60 years and a recently diagnosed onset of type 2 diabetes.
The Director of Nursing (DON) for a home health agency went to the home of this patient to perform a final evaluation before discharging him. It was her first encounter with the patient although her agency had been following him for several months. Upon evaluating the patient, the DON found a patient who was not appropriate for the home care setting. The DON subsequently referred the patient to our practice.

Upon the initial examination in the patient’s home, our nurse practitioner noted a heavily exudative ulcer on the dorsum of his right foot. The patient was in exquisite pain and this pain became worse upon elevation of his lower extremity, which was cool to the touch. Maggots had infested the ulcer and there was an odor to the ulcer as well. The wound edges were irregular and there was obvious depth to the ulcer although one could not determine the full depth of the ulcer due to extensive debris and pain. The patient was afebrile.
The patient’s primary caretaker was his son, a Vietnam-era veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He told our nurse practitioner: “All they (the home health nurses) do is tell my father to elevate his legs but he can’t because he has too much pain.”

This author navigates the complex issues in treating an elderly patient with a heavily exudative diabetic foot ulcer, which has recurred over an 11-year period.

This case is compelling for several reasons. It illustrates the importance of the team approach to limb salvage in a complex case. It illustrates the importance of thorough vascular assessment, the need to biopsy and the utilization of advanced technologies. It also illustrates the disconnect in wound management between the home health industry and ordering physicians who do not closely follow their patients in the home setting and who typically have minimal expertise in wound care.
Lastly, it is a case that illustrates the impact of social dynamics in the home and how effective networking can positively affect outcomes. It is certainly not the most complicated case in the clinical sense but there are powerful and enduring lessons that one can take away from this case.

The patient is an 82-year-old male with a left foot ulcer, which was marked by healing and recurrence over an 11-year period. The initial evaluation of the ulcer occurred in the patient’s home June 13, 2006. His past history included heavy tobacco use of greater than 60 years and a recently diagnosed onset of type 2 diabetes.
The Director of Nursing (DON) for a home health agency went to the home of this patient to perform a final evaluation before discharging him. It was her first encounter with the patient although her agency had been following him for several months. Upon evaluating the patient, the DON found a patient who was not appropriate for the home care setting. The DON subsequently referred the patient to our practice.

Upon the initial examination in the patient’s home, our nurse practitioner noted a heavily exudative ulcer on the dorsum of his right foot. The patient was in exquisite pain and this pain became worse upon elevation of his lower extremity, which was cool to the touch. Maggots had infested the ulcer and there was an odor to the ulcer as well. The wound edges were irregular and there was obvious depth to the ulcer although one could not determine the full depth of the ulcer due to extensive debris and pain. The patient was afebrile.
The patient’s primary caretaker was his son, a Vietnam-era veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He told our nurse practitioner: “All they (the home health nurses) do is tell my father to elevate his legs but he can’t because he has too much pain.”