A Descriptive Study to validate diabetic foot wound care algorithms for use by an outpatient wound clinic in Isfahan

Chronic diabetic foot ulcers have become a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Previous studies show that wound care quality affects outcomes and cost in managing the patients with diabetic foot ulcer. Although all the diagnostic and management protocols of chronic wound care have been explained all stages of diagnosis and treatment of wounds in detail but they do not prescribe a practical protocol in wound management. Therefore, these practical protocols should be oriented toward the achievement of the most effective and efficient clinical management. In this report, a survey design, a study was conducted to validate use of a practical algorithm by an outpatient wound care clinic in Isfahan during from 2009 to 2019. In this period, 72 percent of enrolled patients had been treated without amputation. The rate of loss to follow-up was 28 percent and 10% of them were under treatment because of economic reasons. Our results show that the three-step protocol of wound management along with the experienced medical team could effectively diagnose the wound in the golden time, reduce the duration of treatment and help prevent the recurrence.