Diabetes Foot Clinic

The Diabetes Foot Clinic, initiated in 2009, is conducted every Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The clinic adopts a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to the management of diabetes-related foot conditions. The care team includes endocrinologists, vascular surgeons, prosthetics experts from the Artificial Limb Centre, physiotherapists, and diabetes educators.

The clinic emphasizes prevention, early identification, timely intervention, and comprehensive rehabilitation of diabetic foot conditions, with the goal of reducing ulcer recurrence, preventing amputations, and improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

Diabetes Foot Disease and Diabetes Foot Clinic

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia resulting from inadequate insulin secretion, reduced tissue sensitivity to insulin, or a combination of both. Persistent hyperglycaemia leads to a range of microvascular and macrovascular complications, including peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, increased susceptibility to foot infections, and impaired wound healing.

Diabetic foot disease is one of the most serious and debilitating complications of diabetes. It is defined as a spectrum of conditions in which neuropathy, ischemia, and infection contribute to tissue breakdown, ulceration, and, in severe cases, limb amputation. The lifetime risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer among individuals with diabetes is estimated to be between 15% and 25%, and diabetic foot ulcers precede approximately 85% of diabetes-related amputations. The risk of lower limb amputation in individuals with diabetes is nearly fifteen times higher than in those without diabetes, with 50%–70% of all non-traumatic lower limb amputations attributed to diabetic foot disease. Globally, a lower limb is lost to diabetes approximately every 20 seconds, making it the leading cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations worldwide.

Diabetic foot disease significantly impairs quality of life and adversely affects productivity, social participation, and livelihood. Importantly, it remains a largely preventable cause of amputation in the majority of cases. Diabetes-related amputations are also associated with increased morbidity and mortality, highlighting the importance of early detection and comprehensive management.