FEET FIRST: A diabetic being tested for blood flow at the diabetic foot care clinic of the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on Tuesday. — PHOTO: K.V. SRINIVASAN .

CHENNAI : The Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital, among the public sector healthcare facilities, is showing the way in treating diabetic foot.

An ulcer clinic in the foot care centre of its Diabetology Department was opened recently.

The clinic, which caters for diabetics requiring treatment for wounds, receives 30 patients a week.

A plastic surgeon, an assistant surgeon and a male nurse trained in podiatry attend to them. The podiatrist cleans wounds and cuts nails. Diabetics who have no sensation often tend to cut their skin along with nails.

Head of the Diabetology Department C.R. Anand Moses said that in the last five years following a persistent medical advice, people started using footwear.

The preventive foot care clinic in the KMC's Diabetology ward, which receives at least 1,000 patients every day, is the only one of its kind in the city in the government sector.

Among diabetics, foot care ranks low and amputation becomes necessary, as it is the only way to save a patient's life.

Religious obligations

Every day, the city's government hospitals receive at least 10 diabetics with serious problems in the leg. Often people walk barefoot to fulfil religious obligations out of devotion. This results in blisters and other complications in the feet.

The clinic, sponsored by the World Diabetes Foundation in 2003, has a registry of 9,600 patients.

The foot care clinic uses vibrators to measure loss of sensation in the feet. Blood pressure reading of the leg and arm is taken. The flow of blood through arteries in the feet is also measured.

The readings determine the rate of risk. A small loss of sensation is a reversible condition.

Loss of sensation

Some patients do not feel the pain even when they step on sharp objects.

"People have walked with objects in their shoes without realising ... some were even unaware that they have lost their footwear," said Dr. Moses. At the hospital, patients also have the option of ordering footwear at subsidised rates.

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