Fast-Track Pathway: An Effective Way to Boost Diabetic Foot Care
Diabetes is a chronic disease that challenges global health issues in many aspects. Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most common causes of reduced quality of life and increased hospitalization, amputation, treatment costs, and mortality in patients. Improper patients’ knowledge, unsatisfactory education and training of healthcare workers, and limited facilities are the major cause of delayed referral and downscale management in DFUs.
Due to longer life expectancy, chronic patients experience more complications than before. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects a person’s quality of life. One of the challenges in today’s medicine is the treatment of DFUs.
These ulcers reduce patients’ quality of life and increase their hospitalization, amputation, treatment costs, and mortality. As mentioned earlier, most studies have shown that the lack of patient awareness, along with the inadequate level of training, education, and skill preparation of health care staff and insufficient facilities, are the main reasons for the delayed referral and poor treatment, which lead to progression in DFUs.
Based on these facts, many endocrinological research centers in every country published appropriate guidelines to improve patients’ prevention and treatment of DFUs. In cooperation with the Diabetic Foot Research Group (DFRG) and Diabetes Research Center (DRC) in Iran, the Iranian ministry of health and medical education announced a new method called the Fast-Track Pathway for diabetic patients with DFU. According to this method, during the initial visit, a general evaluation and physical examination are done on diabetic patients to check the complications of diabetes. These patients are examined in terms of the risk of developing DFUs and are classified if DFUs are observed. Each patient is treated according to the level of risk and the type of existing ulcer in the protocol.
By applying these protocols, patients with a high risk of complications are identified earlier and referred to medical centers sooner, which causes a reduction in irreparable complications such as amputation and death in patients. This guideline also helps patients without ulcers or low-risk ulcers to prevent their DFUs progression and receive adequate treatment and education. In other words, our goal for introducing this method included the following, 1. Increase in quality of life, 2. Reduction in the healing process, 3. Preserving limbs from preventable amputations, 4. Reduction in mortality, 5. Increase awareness in patients about DFUs and their complications, 6. We are reminding the importance of training, appropriate education, and skills for GPs, as the first line of the health care system, 7. Designing an effective and applicable protocol based on our country’s financial, human resources, and medical supplies
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