Diabetic Foot-Ulcer Care

Diabetic foot ulcers begin when minor cuts or pressure points on an insensate, poorly perfused foot fail to heal. Left unchecked they can advance to deep infection, osteomyelitis and amputation.

Diagnosis starts with a thorough vascular and neurological work-up (Doppler ankle–brachial index, monofilament and tuning-fork tests), bedside probe-to-bone examination, and targeted X-ray or MRI to rule out osteomyelitis.

Typical symptoms include a painless, non-healing sore that may ooze, smell, swell or show black tissue edges; many patients also report burning or numbness.

Dr Srinivas Seshabhattaru’s treatment protocol combines sharp debridement, culture-guided antibiotics, and immediate pressure off-loading with total-contact casting or custom walkers. Once the wound bed is healthy, he accelerates closure with negative-pressure wound therapy, skin substitutes or split-skin grafts—an approach refined during his University of Texas diabetic-foot fellowship and now standard at Apollo Hospitals’ Centre of Excellence for Diabetic Foot Surgery.