Diabetic Foot Ulcer Recording Form Incorporating the Concepts of Wound Care and Treatment Plan

Park, Sanghoon

Abstract

Management of diabetic foot ulcer is a multi-disciplinary, time-consuming work. In order to obtain a proper recording, better communication, and fair comparative study, effective method of recording system for diabetic foot ulcer is required. Wagner classification and NPUAP (National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel) chronic ulcer staging are widely used but have a drawback that they only consider the depth of the ulcer. Authors devised a recording system for the diabetic foot ulcer and applied it to the patients to examine any problems associated with its use. From September 1999 to January 2001, diabetic foot ulcer recording form was applied to 92 patients with diabetic foot ulcer. The form has 8 fields of recording: date, location, depth, size, status of ulcer, status of margin, interval change, recorder. These fields are for recording itself, treatment plan, or prognostic value. The data were collected and analyzed in detail. Authors proposed criteria for the ideal recording system in the management of diabetic foot ulcer. In conclusion, the diabetic foot ulcer recording system proved to be highly efficient, simple and easy to document the ulcer. In addition, it could help surgeons decide the treatment plan and predict the outcome.