Redefining diabetic foot disease management service during COVID-19 pandemic

Jaly, Ibrahim; Iyengar, Karthikeyan; Bahl, Shashi; Hughes, Thomas; Vaishya, Raju

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Diabetic Foot Disease (DFD) management had to be redefined during COVID-19. We aim to evaluate the impact of this on diabetic foot care services and the strategies adopted to mitigate them. METHODS: We have performed a comprehensive review of the literature using suitable keywords on the Search engines of PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Research Gate in the first two weeks of May 2020. We have reviewed how the diabetic foot service in the hospital and community setting has been affected by the current Coronavirus outbreak. RESULTS: We found considerable disruption in diabetic foot service provisions both in the primary care and in the hospital settings. Social distancing and shielding public health guidelines have impacted the delivery of diabetic foot services. CONCLUSION: As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads worldwide, health care systems are facing the tough challenges in delivering diabetic foot service to patients. Public health guidelines and the risk of virus transmission have resulted in reconfiguration of methods to support and manage diabetic foot patients including remote consultations.