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Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic

BACKGROUND: Community physicians may not encounter Charcot arthropathy frequently, and its symptoms and signs may be nonspecific. Patients often have a delay of several months before receiving a formal diagnosis and referral for specialty care. However, limited Canadian data are available. We evalua...

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Autores principales: Huynh, Tiffany M., Pilkey, Brad, Trepman, Elly, Dascal, Mario, Dascal, Roman, Embil, John M.A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: CMA Impact Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10609890/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37875304
http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cjs.006022
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author Huynh, Tiffany M.
Pilkey, Brad
Trepman, Elly
Dascal, Mario
Dascal, Roman
Embil, John M.A.
author_facet Huynh, Tiffany M.
Pilkey, Brad
Trepman, Elly
Dascal, Mario
Dascal, Roman
Embil, John M.A.
author_sort Huynh, Tiffany M.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Community physicians may not encounter Charcot arthropathy frequently, and its symptoms and signs may be nonspecific. Patients often have a delay of several months before receiving a formal diagnosis and referral for specialty care. However, limited Canadian data are available. We evaluated the clinical history, treatment and outcomes of patients treated for Charcot arthropathy after prompt referral and diagnosis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 76 patients with diabetes (78 feet) who received nonoperative treatment for Charcot arthropathy in a specialty foot clinic between Jan. 20, 2009, and Mar. 26, 2018. Patients were referred to the foot clinic by community physicians for evaluation or were pre-existing patients at the foot clinic with new-onset Charcot arthropathy. RESULTS: Of the 78 feet included in our analyses, 52 feet (67%) were evaluated initially by a community physician and referred to the foot clinic, where they were seen within 3 ± 5 weeks. The remaining 26 feet (33%) were already being treated at the foot clinic. Most feet had swelling, erythema, warmth, a palpable pulse and loss of protective sensation. Ulcers were present initially in 23 feet (29%). Sixty-four feet (82%) with Charcot arthropathy were in Eichenholtz classification stage 1 and most had midfoot involvement. Nonoperative treatment included total contact casting (60 feet, 77%). Mean duration of nonoperative treatment until resolution for 55 feet (71%) was 6 ± 5 months. Surgery was performed on 20 feet (26%) for the treatment of infection and recurrent ulcer associated with deformity, including 6 (8%) lower limb amputations. CONCLUSION: Charcot arthropathy may resolve in most feet with early referral and nonoperative treatment, but remains a limb-threatening condition.
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spelling pubmed-106098902023-10-28 Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic Huynh, Tiffany M. Pilkey, Brad Trepman, Elly Dascal, Mario Dascal, Roman Embil, John M.A. Can J Surg Research BACKGROUND: Community physicians may not encounter Charcot arthropathy frequently, and its symptoms and signs may be nonspecific. Patients often have a delay of several months before receiving a formal diagnosis and referral for specialty care. However, limited Canadian data are available. We evaluated the clinical history, treatment and outcomes of patients treated for Charcot arthropathy after prompt referral and diagnosis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 76 patients with diabetes (78 feet) who received nonoperative treatment for Charcot arthropathy in a specialty foot clinic between Jan. 20, 2009, and Mar. 26, 2018. Patients were referred to the foot clinic by community physicians for evaluation or were pre-existing patients at the foot clinic with new-onset Charcot arthropathy. RESULTS: Of the 78 feet included in our analyses, 52 feet (67%) were evaluated initially by a community physician and referred to the foot clinic, where they were seen within 3 ± 5 weeks. The remaining 26 feet (33%) were already being treated at the foot clinic. Most feet had swelling, erythema, warmth, a palpable pulse and loss of protective sensation. Ulcers were present initially in 23 feet (29%). Sixty-four feet (82%) with Charcot arthropathy were in Eichenholtz classification stage 1 and most had midfoot involvement. Nonoperative treatment included total contact casting (60 feet, 77%). Mean duration of nonoperative treatment until resolution for 55 feet (71%) was 6 ± 5 months. Surgery was performed on 20 feet (26%) for the treatment of infection and recurrent ulcer associated with deformity, including 6 (8%) lower limb amputations. CONCLUSION: Charcot arthropathy may resolve in most feet with early referral and nonoperative treatment, but remains a limb-threatening condition. CMA Impact Inc. 2023-10-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10609890/ /pubmed/37875304 http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cjs.006022 Text en © 2023 CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e., research or educational use), and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
spellingShingle Research
Huynh, Tiffany M.
Pilkey, Brad
Trepman, Elly
Dascal, Mario
Dascal, Roman
Embil, John M.A.
Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title_full Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title_fullStr Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title_full_unstemmed Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title_short Charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
title_sort charcot arthropathy outcomes after early referral to a regional tertiary care foot clinic
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10609890/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37875304
http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cjs.006022
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