DIABETIC FOOT ULCER GRADES

CORRELATION WITH ANKLE BRACHIAL PRESSURE INDEX

Abstract

Diabetic foot is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus. The management and out come is very much dependent on proper assessment of foot ulcer severity. Objectives: To asses severity of diabetic foot and to find a correlation between Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) and foot ulcer grades. Study design: Prospective study. Period: Jan 2001 to Dec 2003. Patients & Methods and Setting: Patients with diabetic foot ulcers from all the medical and surgical units of Ayub teaching hospital Abbottabad were enrolled in the study. Results: Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) levels revealed 5 (5.8%) with ABPI < 0.5 for grade V, 8 patients (9.3%) ABPI 0.5 – 0.89 for grade IV, 18 patients (20.9%) ABPI 0.9-1 for grade III, 44 (51.2%) ABPI 0.9-1 for grade II, and 9 patients (10.5%) ABPI > 1 for grade I diabetic foot ulcer. This data was analyzed via SPSS version 8.0. Conclusions: Ankle brachial pressure index is a good diagnostic tool to assess the lower extremity arterial disease in diabetic foot patients. ABPI readings should be cautiously interpreted as these may be falsely elevated in atherosclerotic patients.