Treating an infected diabetic foot ulcer that was hiding a foreign body
Treatment type: Debridement, advanced dressings, ozone therapy and cold plasma · Treatment length: Ongoing
Session 1: the ulcer under the callus, with the foreign body still inside Session 1: a closer view of the ulcer and the foreign body inside it Session 1: the ulcer after the lentil was removed, with the lentil beside the foot Session 1: the sole after the foreign body was removed Session 1: a close-up of the lentil we took out of the wound Session 1: the lentil from the wound, next to the forceps Session 1, after debridement: the wound once the dead tissue was removed Session 1, after debridement: the sole from another angle Session 1, after debridement: the whole sole Session 3: a close-up of the wound and the callus around it Session 3: where the wound sits on the sole Session 5: the wound opening within the callus Session 5: the sole and toes Session 6: the wound during treatment
This ulcer is on the sole of a patient who had lived with diabetes for about twenty years. Blood sugar had not been well controlled for years and severe neuropathy had set in, so the patient could not feel how deep the wound went. On arrival, the wound had tunnelled under the callus on the sole, was severely infected and smelled bad.
In the first session we found a foreign body inside the wound: a lentil. Because the foot was numb, the patient had never noticed it. We removed it and cleared the dead tissue (debridement). In the following sessions we used advanced dressings, ozone therapy and cold plasma.
Treatment is ongoing. The images on this page follow it up to the sixth session.
Treatment results vary from person to person; these images are not a guarantee of a similar outcome.
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