From the Bottom Up: Foot Care in Diabetes and the Role of the Endocrinologist

Daniel Shafran

Authors

Daniel Shafran, MD, FRCPC University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a common, serious, and costly complication of diabetes. By some estimates, up to a third of people living with diabetes (PWDs) will develop a DFU in their lifetime. The 5-year mortality rate in patients with a DFU is approximately 30%, and the mortality rate can be as high as 70% in patients with an above the foot amputation. In Canada, hospital admissions for DFUs are 25% more expensive than other common costly conditions such as heart failure and pneumonia, and this is prior to accounting for additional costs associated with treatment of DFUs, such as outpatient antibiotics, rehabilitation, prosthetics, therapeutic footwear, and continuing care. Endocrinologists and other diabetes specialists are well positioned to identify patients at high risk of developing DFUs. By providing early or preventive treatment for DFUs, there is perhaps nothing more impactful that one can do to improve the quality of life of patients living with diabetes.

Author Biography

Daniel Shafran, MD, FRCPC, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

Dr. Daniel Shafran is a specialist in Internal Medicine and co-founder of the Edmonton Diabetes & High Risk Foot Clinic. He completed medical school at the University of Calgary, residency at the University of Toronto, and a fellowship in General Internal Medicine at the University of Alberta. He is a Staff Physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s Diabetic Foot Clinic and attends on the Internal Medicine wards at the Misericordia Hospital. At the Edmonton Diabetes & High Risk Foot Clinic, he has gathered internal medicine, endocrinology, wound care nurses, foot care nurses, mental health professionals, dieticians, pharmacists, diabetes educators, and insulin pump trainers to work collaboratively under one roof to provide comprehensive care to Albertans living with diabetes.

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From the Bottom Up: Foot Care in Diabetes and the Role of the Endocrinologist

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Author Biography

Daniel Shafran, MD, FRCPC, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

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