A LOT OF MONEY, lives and limbs can be saved if a multi-disciplinary approach is adopted in caring for the feet of diabetics.
Dr Christopher Blanco, of the Miami-based Baptist Health system, said this approach required patients consulting a number of specialists, including the endocrinologist, vascular surgeon, nutritionist, plastic surgeon and physical rehab specialist.
He told the DAILY NATION he realised that many patients were unaware of who to consult when treating diabetic foot ulcers.
“So there’s been a little bit of chaos in the referral system. So I think it’s very important that we focus on whom the limb salvage team is and that the limb salvage team is made up of multiple physicians to treat the diabetic foot,” he said.
The South Florida-based doctor was speaking at the Barbados Diabetes Foundation’s second annual Multidisciplinary Diabetes Conference held recently at the Savannah Hotel in Hastings, Christ Church.
Blanco said some people were having amputations because they were not getting the right care.
“It’s the approach that is going to help in saving people’s limbs, because it can be catastrophic once a person loses a limb. Their life expectancy severely diminishes over the next ten years,” he added.
The two-day conference had as its theme Digging Deeper – More Than Meets the Eye and was attended by over 100 medical practitioners who participated in workshops and lecture sessions. (TSG)
