At our centre, we offer the widest range of treatment and management options for various types of foot ulcers. In addition to being well-versed with the traditional or classic techniques and surgeries, many additional procedures offered by our innovative surgeons are at the leading edge of Plastic surgery. Our multidisciplinary Plastic surgery team works collectively to create personalized treatment plans that provide the best options for each patient, reflecting his or her specific condition and individual needs..
Today’s advanced treatment of diabetic foot ulcers include innovative technologies that stimulate healing. These breakthroughs are critical in diabetic foot care because poor circulation, nerve damage and impaired immune responses—problems that people with diabetes are at higher risk of having—make it difficult for a patient’s foot ulcer to heal. One groundbreaking approach that promotes healing is the use of bioengineered skin substitutes. Surgeons place these advanced biologics, which are made either from living or non-living tissue, over the wound to accelerate growth of healthy skin.
Another advanced wound-healing technology is negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). This consists of a wound dressing, an air-tight film placed over the wound, and a drainage tube connected to a suction device that draws excess fluid. The suction enables healthy new tissue to grow. NPWT makes it far more likely that a graft will survive. “Today, we rarely do a skin graft without using NPWT before and after the grafting procedure,” says our surgeons
Skin grafting for foot ulcers is also greatly improved today. Surgeons now use plastic surgery grafting techniques that were once reserved for other parts of the body, such as in facial reconstruction. Grafting involves taking healthy skin from another area of the body and placing it over the ulcer. The success rate of all the advanced therapies for diabetic foot wounds is high, providing substantial improvement over treatments of the previous decade.
“Fifteen years ago, we would clean out the wound, apply an antiseptic and an antimicrobial agent, put a bandage on the wound, and hope for the best,” That picture is dramatically different today, Advanced plastic surgery procedures like local flap, perforator flaps, microvascular flap cover has reduced rate of amputation of limb. We recommend you get an opinion from us before going for amputation of a limb.