Elizabeth Bailey Research Paper
ENC 1107-6907 Word Count ___764______
April 23, 2013
Elizabeth Bailey Research Paper
ENC 1107-6907 Word Count ___764______
April 23, 2013

How to Care for Diabetic Wounds Having diabetes, you are susceptible to many different types of problems. One of the more serious is diabetic foot ulcers. There are many different causes and treatments for foot ulcers, as well as preventative measures one can take to stay ulcer free. It is so much more important to take care of yourself and check your body frequently when you have diabetes. If you miss a little scratch it may turn into an untreatable wound that may result in losing your foot or worse your entire leg. There are many different treatments, but one in particular has caused much controversy in the last thirty years. There are many different causes for wounds when someone has diabetes. The most common causes are: below the knee is prone to swelling, hard to immobilize the limb, week immune system, narrow arteries, dry skin that cracks, bad eye sight and nerve damage can inhibit one from seeing and feeling the wound. (Nazario, 2010) You need to check your skin daily and maintain good personal hygiene as well as keeping your diabetes under control, moisturize, and wearing good fitting shoes to prevent such wounds. Once a diabetic wound is noticed it is imperative that first you clean the wound, then call a Dr., and keep pressure on the wound until you are able to see the doctor. Once you notice the ulcer and make it to the doctor’s office there are many ways he will treat the wound. Initially, he will fit you with pressure relief using a total contact cast, removable cast walkers, or half shoes. Next, is debridement, which is the removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to promote healing, and management of infection with antibiotics. The last step if all else fails is amputation. A staggering 15-20% of people with diabetes will be hospitalized with a non-healing foot complication, such as an ulcer, and 60,000 to 70,000 yearly amputations. (Frykberg, 2002) The treatment of a foot ulcer is determined by severity and presence of infection. One very controversial method for healing diabetic ulcers is maggot therapy. Maggot therapy was introduced in the 1920s and lost popularity until the 1970s. Since then there have been many studies and debates regarding this treatment. Many people find the idea of letting maggots eat the dead skin off of a wound revolting. If you are able to get past the nastiness of it and learn about the research, you just may find it to be the most beneficial treatment available. One of the most popular maggot therapy research studies was between the years 1990-1995. In this study 143 patients were referred to maggot therapy. The wounds were closely followed for eight weeks. Wounds that were not healing were referred to this study. Disinfected fly larvae were applied to the wound and dressed with a cage-like dressing for 48 hours. This procedure was repeated two times a week for two weeks. After the two weeks were up, the wounds were measured by length, width, circumference, and surface area. The results were unbelievable, all of the maggot treated wounds saw a 50% reduction in nine days and within four weeks all of the wounds were closed. (Ronald Sherman MD, 2003) My skin crawls just at the thought of putting maggots on an open wound. Even after reading the research study I am not sure if I would