American Podiatric Medical Association
View all recommendations from this societyAugust 1, 2017
Don’t use synthetic or donated grafts on diabetic foot wounds without first allowing for an adequate trial of standard wound care.
Most diabetic foot wounds will heal when proper wound care is performed. The standard of care includes treating any infection present, ensuring there is adequate circulation for healing, taking pressure off the wound (offloading) and regular debridement. Synthetic or donated grafts are expensive and are ineffective without first performing the standard of care. If a wound being treated with standard care has not healed by at least 50 percent in four weeks, synthetic or donated grafts may then be necessary.
These items are provided solely for informational purposes and are not intended as a substitute for consultation with a medical professional. Patients with any specific questions about the items on this list or their individual situation should consult their physician.
How The List Was Created
(1–5) The American Podiatric Medical Association’s (APMA) Clinical Practice Advisory Committee, consisting of APMA members, board members, young members and liaisons with special interests in a variety of subspecialty areas within podiatric practice, formulated the recommendations for the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely Campaign. The Committee worked with podiatric colleagues to create an initial list of recommendations, which was reviewed and narrowed down to eight recommendations. The list of eight recommendations was further developed and distributed to the Committee for ranking in numerical order. Committee members were asked to rank the recommendations based on their relevance, timeliness, strength of supporting evidence and appropriateness for inclusion in the Choosing Wisely Campaign. The rankings and deliberation enabled the Committee to come to the final five recommendations, which were again reviewed to ensure appropriate evidence was used to support each recommendation. The final recommendations were approved by the Board of Trustees of the APMA before submission to the ABIM Foundation.
(6–10) The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) tasked their Clinical Practice Advisory Committee consisting of APMA members, board members, young members, and liaisons with special interests in a variety of subspecialty areas within podiatric practice to formulate the recommendations for the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely Campaign. The Committee worked with podiatric colleagues to create an initial list of recommendations, which was reviewed and narrowed down to nine recommendations. The list of nine recommendations was further developed and distributed to the Committee for ranking in numerical order. Committee members were asked to rank the recommendations based on their relevance, timeliness, strength of supporting evidence and appropriateness for inclusion in the Choosing Wisely Campaign. The rankings and deliberation allowed the Committee to come to the final five recommendations, which were again reviewed to ensure appropriate evidence was used to support each recommendation. The final recommendations were approved by the Board of Trustees of the APMA before submission to the ABIM Foundation.
APMA’s disclosure and conflict of interest policy can be found at www.apma.org.
Sources
Snyder RJ, et al. The management of diabetic foot ulcers through optimal off-loading: Building consensus guidelines and practical recommendations to improve outcomes. JAPMA. 2014;104:555.
Snyder RJ, et al. Consensus recommendation on advancing the standard of care for treating neuropathic foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. Ostomy Wound Manage. 2010;56:S1-24.
Sheehan PS, et al. Percent change in wound area of diabetic foot ulcers over a 4-week period is a robust predictor of complete healing in a 12-week prospective trial. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2006;117:239S-244S.
